The Fed held rates steady again on April 29, maintaining a wait-and-see stance on inflation. The decision likely marks Jerome Powell’s final FOMC meeting as chair, extending a prolonged pause with implications for distributor demand and investment.
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This comprehensive MDM 2Q26 Forecast Report is a guide to the U.S. wholesale distribution economy, providing a historical, current and future snapshot of numerous key economic indicators in one convenient place along with our exclusive sector-specific forecasts for 19 different product categories.
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MDM’s 1Q26 MarketPulse Report consists of the quarterly results, analysis and commentary from the latest Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution Survey — conducted early April — that explored revenue performance, pricing and business expectations for the current quarter and rest-of-year. It includes a wealth of market-specific data and commentary from survey respondents.
Ludwig Meister Co-CEO Max Meister joins the Podcast to explain why innovation fails without execution — and why AI won’t fix bad data. We also preview his SHIFT main stage session on benchmarking digital, data, sales and culture maturity.
PMA's latest business conditions report showed relatively flat movement for near-term outlook, with a modest decrease in monthly shipping levels offset by higher expected near-term orders.
The year is off to a strong start, with cutting tool orders up double digits from the start of 2025 supported by rising industrial activity.
Analysts from Jefferies cited increased branch foot traffic at a handful of major industrial distributors that correlates with demand optimism voiced in 1Q26 earnings calls.
Production slowed in most market groups. Declines were partially offset by growth in the output of construction supplies, defense, industrial and space equipment.
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Core inflation posted a modest monthly gain, while final demand good prices saw their biggest one-month increase since August 2023.
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Hitting a new lowpoint in the index's 74-year history, it nderscores a sharp deterioration in household confidence entering 2Q.
Order value continues its considerable year-over-year and year-to-date improvement, whole volume remains flat.
Pricing is still playing a large — albeit decelerated role — in the company’s strong results, while management was upbeat on underlying demand. Get our in-depth breakdown of Fastenal’s 1Q metrics.
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It was the third straight flat month as a plunge in commercial aircraft orders was negated by healthy gains in computers and electronics, machinery, primary metals and fabricated metal products.
With consumers paying significantly more at the pump, the latest data gives the Fed little reason to enact an interest rate cut at the end of April.
It was a strong monthly acceleration as a handful of durable goods categories saw mid-single digit sales improvement. Meanwhile, the industry's overall sales growth outpaced inventories. Get a full breakdown of the latest government data here, which includes a look at how each product sector's sales and inventories fared month-over-month, year-over-year and year-to-date.
However, HARDI notes January and February are not good indicators of the year ahead because they are low-volume, seasonally insignificant months.
