Current business trends are flat
Jan 7, 2013
The greater Grand Rapids industrial economy has returned to “almost
flat,” according to the results of a monthly survey compiled by Brian
G. Long, director of Supply Management Research in the Seidman College
of Business at Grand Valley State University.
The survey results are based on data collected during the last
two weeks of December.
The survey’s index of business improvement, called new orders,
came in at +4, considerably lower than the +17 reported last month.
The production index backtracked a little as well, remaining positive
but coming down to +11 from +21. Activity in purchasing offices picked
up slightly to +11 from +8. In a similar move, the employment index
rose to +14 from +13.
“We’ve returned to an unimpressive growth pattern,” said Long.
“Despite the optimism of our November report, December and 2012 ended
rather flat.”
Long said December was a little slower month than expected for
the office furniture business. “The specialty furniture firms did not
have a good month at all,” he said. “The auto parts suppliers remain
positive, but with a couple exceptions, continue to show signs of
topping out. The capital equipment firms were widely mixed, probably
because of the volatile nature of year-end activity. For industrial
distributors, once again the performance came in mixed, although the
bias was still to the upside.”
Long said he doesn’t predict a recession but said 2013 will be a
year of “leveling out” with some months recording negative numbers.
The Institute for Supply Management survey is a monthly survey of
business conditions that includes 45 purchasing managers in the
greater Grand Rapids area and 25 in Kalamazoo. The respondents are
from the region’s major industrial manufacturers, distributors and
industrial service organizations. It is patterned after a nationwide
survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management. Each month,
the respondents are asked to rate eight factors as “same,” “up” or “down.”
For more information, contact Brian Long at (269) 323-2359.
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