Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International reported a 4.6 percent sales increase for November. The annualized growth through November slipped further to 5.5 percent.

"HARDI members will definitely be feeling the slowdown well into the first half of 2016 – before things improve in the second half of the year,” said HARDI Senior Economist Connor Lokar.

The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now at 45.5.