Moldmaking Index Growth Continues to Seesaw

Registering 54.4 for September 2018, the averages-based Gardner Business Index (GBI): Moldmaking expanded after a recording in August that was as low as it has been in nearly two years. Compared to the same month one year ago, the Moldmaking Index is up 1.9 percent but is well below the all-time high readings that it reached during the first quarter of 2018. Gardner Intelligence’s review of the underlying data for the month reveals that production and new orders recorded sharp expansions for the month along with smaller gains in backlogs and employment. Production, supplier deliveries and new orders lifted the Moldmaking Index, while employment, backlogs and exports lowered the Moldmaking Index. Exports were the only component of the Moldmaking Index to contract during the month, meaning that it registered a reading below 50.0.

The backlog component of the Moldmaking Index expanded in September after contracting in August. Before that, the last time that backlogs recorded a contraction was during the fourth quarter of 2017. During the first half of 2018, backlog expanded at the greatest rate recorded in the history of the Moldmaking Index, which makes this component one of the most volatile year-to-date.