The same downdraft afflicting the broad economy appears to be spilling into the electrical manufacturing sector as the industry pulls back from its earlier rebound. NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions fell to 38.6 in July from 52.4 in June. The index has been sliding since reaching a recent year high of 72.5 in February, but July’s reading was the first below 50 — the level indicating an equal number of panelists see conditions improving as see them deteriorating — since August 2011. The survey’s measure of the degree of change in current North American conditions also slipped into the red in July, declining to -0.4 from a neutral 0.0 in June. Meanwhile, the EBCI for future North American conditions remained solidly in positive territory, even climbing modestly in July to 61.4 from 57.1 in June.
Click here for the complete July 2012 report.
