Moldmaking Activity Recovers in May With Bump Up to 48.0

Moldmaking Index

The Gardner Business Index (GBI) measures the current state of moldmaking activity through survey responses that cover new orders, production, backlog, employment, exports and supplier deliveries. A reading above 50 indicates expansion; below 50 indicates contraction.

The Moldmaking Index bounced back in May, but was short of expansion at 48.0.

Moldmakers claimed small wins in May to recover some of the ground lost to April’s slide as the Moldmaking Index climbs to 48.0. The drop and recovery highlights the back-and-forth changes to tariff policy and its impact on manufacturing as business activity picked up under somewhat stable conditions in May. Most index components saw improvements in May offset by previous losses resulting in downward trends for our three-month averages. Supplier deliveries and employment, however, proved more resilient. The Future Business Index also remained positive with an uptick in May leading to a three-month average of 62.3.

Components Scorecard

The GBI Components Scorecard reports the monthly change rate of primary moldmaking market factors contributing to the overall monthly index reading.

Reading the Scorecard: Color indicates where a component value falls relative to 50 for the current month. Green indicates expansion; red indicates contraction.

Shade indicates a value's distance from 50; the darker the shade, the further from 50.

Direction indicates a value's change versus the previous period. Pointing up is always better.

Future Business Index

The GBI Future Business Index is an indicator of the future state of the moldmaking market from industry respondents regarding their opinion of future business conditions for the next 12 months. Over 50 is expansion and under 50 is contraction.