All US Sales Managers Indexes rose in March, all bar one rather sharply. All are over the critical 50 no-growth line. The Business Confidence Index, the crucial "animal spirits" ingredient in economic growth is riding high at 54.6, the best reading for 26 months.
The evidence presented by the March Sales Managers Survey suggests that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes have had at best a very modest restraining impact on economic activity levels.
However the Fed's efforts at cutting price inflation do seem to be working, with the Sales Managers Price index now at a 44 month low.
The Sales Managers' Indexes provide the earliest monthly data on the speed and direction of economic activity in key growth areas of the world.
The SMI’s (Sales Managers’ Indexes) are compiled and analysed by World Economics and are based on survey data collected from a panel of companies stratifying all Industry Classification Board (ICB) sectors which are weighted to reflect their contribution to national Gross Domestic Product.
Key advantages of the SMI's:
SMI data for the ~USA is published as diffusion indexes to gauge the speed and direction of economic activity.
Monthly data since 2011 is downloadable for all-sectors in a consistent unadjusted format for 7 key indexes: