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Gardner Business Index Reading of 34.2 for April 2020

April’s reading of 34.2 signaled that overall business activity conditions continued to slow further after falling sharply in March. As expected, April’s data also indicated that the disruption to supply chains reported last month also further worsened. For a second month, new orders, production and exports activity led the Index lower. These components are considered leading indicators of the Index due to their frequent influence on backlogs and employment readings in later months.
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Gardner Business Index April 2020
April’s activity contraction was widespread across the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers of all sizes and serving all end-markets reported further slowing business activity. The spread in the average index reading between firms under 20 employees and those over 250 employees over the last two months was less than 1 point. During typical downturns large firms have more options available to them to cope with the pain of a downturn; however, the current situation has left little -- if any -- room for firms of any size to maneuver to relatively greater safety. Read more

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