Following gains in October 2009, U.S. manufacturers’ sales decreased while Canadian manufacturers posted no change in November 2009 according to sales data released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association in its Market Outlook Report. U.S. manufacturers’ sales dropped 6.1% from October 2009 sales, following three months of increasing sales. 

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Year-to-date sales figures comparisons between November 2009 and November 2008 still reflect sales declines. U.S. manufacturers’ year-to-date sales are down 27.9% compared to sales at this time last year; Canadian manufacturers’ year-to-year sales are off 25.8%.

Confidence in the U.S. market has been in a negative position since January 2009 and has been stalled at 4.7 (as measured on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being most optimistic) for five consecutive months. Canadian manufacturers’ confidence dropped slightly after the spike in October 2009, moving back to a negative position of 4.1. 

Month-to-month sales for nine product categories between October 2009 and November 2009 for U.S. and Canadian manufacturers are reported below.

U.S. Manufacturer Percent Change in Product Sales
(October 2009 vs. November 2009)