Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International reported a 3.7 percent sales increase for January. The annualized growth through January was 5.7 percent.

“The weak start to the year is further confirmation of the slower growth we expect during the first half of this year,” said HARDI Senior Economist Connor Lokar. “Retail sales in January grew just 0.1 percent versus January 2015, the slowest month-over-month growth in nearly 3 years, while housing starts for the month improved by only 0.8 percent versus the year ago period.”

The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now at 47.8.