March 2009

U.S.
Each of the three economic indexes provided by The Conference Board posted declines of 0.4 percent for the month. The Conference Board Leading Economic Index February decline follows a slight increase in January. Between August 2008 and February 2009, the index fell 2.1 percent, faster than the decline of 1.6 percent (a -3.1 percent annual rate) for the previous six months. In addition, the weaknesses among the leading indicators have remained widespread. The Leading Economic Index for the U.S. now stands at 98.5, continuing a downward trend that began in July 2007.

Six of the indicators that make up the LEI increased in February, including the interest rate spread, index of supplier deliveries (vendor performance), building permits, real money supply, …

Modern Distribution Management’s February Inflation Index, which measures a cross-section of industrial supplies, was up 0.31% from the previous month, and up 7.12% from February 2008.
 
Please click below to view a print-ready pdf of the MDM Inflation Index for February 2009, listing the 10 individual product categories that make up the …

January 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $326.1 billion, down 2.9 percent from the revised December level and were down 15.4 percent from January 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
 
January sales of durable goods were down 6.5 percent from last month and were down 17.3 percent from a year ago. Compared with last month, sales of machinery, equipment, and supplies were down 10.8 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were up 0.3 percent from last month, but were down 13.7 percent from last year. Sales of chemicals and allied products were down 4.9 percent from last month, while sales of drugs and druggists’ …