February's Moldmaking Industry GBI Crept Toward Growth
Despite contracting activity, moldmaking landed itself on the cusp to potential expansion in March, further encouraged by the slowing contraction of most Index components.
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GBI: Moldmaking activity contracted in February, though it ended the month within spitting distance of expansion. Photo Credit, all images: Gardner Intelligence
Contracting for the sixth month in a row, the Gardner Business Index (GBI) Moldmaking closed February at 49.7, up just 0.5 points from January. Activity ended the month on the cusp of “flat” such that, barring any surprises, it will likely enter growth mode (i.e., expansion) in March. Of note, the same was said about January into February — the Gardner Business Index (GBI) Moldmaking has seemed reluctant to cross the (flat) line and grow like it did in August 2022.
Three components, new orders, backlog and exports, technically contracted again in February, but at steadily slowed rates, continuing their journeys toward growth, or at least non-contraction in the near term. Led by slowed contraction of new orders, fellow months-long-contracting component, production, ended February in growth mode. Employment has expanded at varying rates for most of the past 2.5 years, expanding again in February after a rare three-month contractionary blip. And supplier deliveries lengthened again in February, though more slowly, reinforcing that, despite some encouraging hints, moldmaking activity is not “blockbuster.”
New orders and production experienced slowed contraction in February, with production going so far as to enter expansion. (This graph is on a three-month moving average.)
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