Industry News

The current conditions index's 10-point slide from 70.6 in May to 60.5 this month brings it to the lowest level since November 2016. Nevertheless, because it remains above 50, the index value is still in the expansionary range. The share of those reporting better conditions dropped by 15 percentage points from May to June, but most of that sentiment shifted to "unchanged" as that component jumped 11 points from 47 percent last month to 58 percent in June. The proportion of panel members noting worse conditions edged up to 11 percent from 6 percent in May.

The intensity of change in electroindustry business conditions swung to a much less buoyant mark as both the median and mean scores declined. The median, which had settled in at 1.0 since January, edged down to 0 this month. Likewise, the mean value, which had not dropped below 0.6 this year, slid to 0.3 this month. Panelists are asked to report intensity of change on a scale ranging from –5 (deteriorated significantly) through 0 (unchanged) to +5 (improved significantly). 

Although the future conditions index also declined, easing to 68.4 in June from 70.6 last month, most respondents remained optimistic about conditions facing the industry in six months. In both May and June, 53 percent of our panel members reported expectations of better conditions six months out, while 16 percent foresaw worse conditions in the latest survey. A sizeable proportion of respondents, 32 percent, expected to see future conditions unchanged.   

Click here for the complete June 2017 report.