U.S. and Canadian manufacturers' sales increased in the month of January, with U.S. manufacturers posting a slight increase of 0.1 percent and Canadian manufacturers' sales rising by 10.4 percent according to sales data released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association in its Market Outlook Report.
For U.S. manufacturers, sales comparisons between January 2010 and January 2009 still reflect sales declines. U.S. manufacturers' year-to-date sales are down 12.8 percent compared to sales at this time last year. However, Canadian manufacturers' year-to-year sales are up 2.9 percent.
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U.S. manufacturers' confidence rose from 4.9 in December to a neutral position of 5.0 – the highest position in a year. Canadian manufacturers' confidence rose slightly to 4.6 from 4.5 in December 2009.
Month-to-month sales for product categories between December 2009 and January 2010 for U.S. and Canadian manufacturers are reported below.
U.S. Manufacturer Percent Change in Product Sales
(December 2009 vs. January 2010)
| Product | Percent Change |
| Unmounted Bearings | -8.1% |
| Clutches & Brakes | -7.8% |
| Mounted Bearings | 0.0% |
| Standard Industrial Motors | 0.1% |
| Gear Products | 0.4% |
| Shaft Couplings | 4.5% |
| Mechanical Drive Systems and Other PT Products | 16.8% |
| Positioning Systems/Linear Motion Products | 21.9% |
| Variable Speed Drives |
38.9% |
Canadian Manufacturer Percent Change in Product Sales
(December 2009 vs. January 2010)
| Product | Percent Change |
| Variable Speed Drives | -12.0% |
| Shaft Couplings | -3.3% |
| Mechanical Drive Systems and Other PT Products | 2.3% |
| Unmounted Bearings | 11.0% |
| Gear Products | 15.1% |
| Positioning Systems/Linear Motion Products | 20.4% |
| Clutches & Brakes | 25.1% |
| Mounted Bearings | 28.2% |
The Market Outlook Report is published monthly by the Power Transmission Distributors Association. The full report includes U.S. and Canadian manufacturer data for sales and order trends for mounted bearings, unmounted bearings, standard industrial motors (U.S. only), variable speed drives, positioning systems/linear motion products, gear products, clutches and brakes, shaft couplings and mechanical drive systems and other PT products.
Year-end data for 2008 and 2009 is available in a complete report. For more information, visit www.ptda.org.
