Finishing activity contracted again in January, Closing at 45.5
Finishing activity has shown encouraging signs the past two months, the longest ‘stretch’ since starting to contract in April 2023.
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The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Finishing started the new year sustaining the marginally encouraging reading that ended 2023.
- New orders and production slowed contraction in January, while other components held steady, the combination driving the overall index.
- Employment in finishing has contracted at an accelerated rate since September, potentially a correction since growing steadily for months post-Covid.
- Supplier deliveries started to lengthen from being flat in December, generally a sign that business is picking up.
- Optimism about future business, while not part of the GBI calculation, continued to increase in January, likely a combination of improved components and the hope a new year typically brings.
The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Finishing
Finishing activity slowed contraction for the second month in a row.
Key Component Activity
Slowed contraction in new orders and production drove January’s finishing index while optimism around future business increased again.
Jan Schafer
Jan is a market research professional who loves learning and adding value to the businesses of Gardner’s advertisers, audience, and the company itself. Her curiosity, business knowledge, client service and shameless resourcefulness combine to enable Jan to lead research in manufacturing from objective-setting (do not even try to bypass it…) to delivering data-based recommendations (can’t dodge those either…) Jan attributes her capabilities to education in psychology and business administration followed by a healthy dose of ‘mixing it up.’ Her experience includes tending bar (more useful than you might expect,) early years (okay, 15!) at Procter & Gamble, developing her own consulting business, and leading supply-side research before landing the perfect gig at Gardner.
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