Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), Columbus, Ohio, this week released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 4.5% during August.

The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through August is 2.5%.

“August 2020 had about the same number of cooling degree days, but one less billing day than August 2019,” said HARDI Market Research & Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus.  “We estimate sales growth with the same number of billing days was more than 9%.”

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now at 40 days. “The normal August DSO is in the range of 42 to 44 days so this was another unusually brisk report,” said Loftus.  “Members have told us they presume their customers participated in some of the economic relief programs that has allowed them to quickly pay for their supplies.”

“The recovery continues with most economic indicators progressing forward slowly, and slowly is the key word,” said Loftus.  “The rolling three-week average of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is now 75, at a level it has not seen since early 2013, after cruising at 95 to 100 from 2017-19.  The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index indicates the summer’s rebound is losing steam and we see that in the weekly state unemployment claims.  Good to see small steps forward but no signs of acceleration either.”