The New York-based National Association of Credit Management Tuesday said its January credit manager index slipped to 52.7 from 55.0 in December.
Despite the decline the index still stood above the threshold value of 50 that separates an improving from a declining economy.
The manufacturing sector index slipped for a seventh straight month, down 4.5 percentage points to 50.6 in January. Meanwhile, the service sector recorded a much more modest 0.2-percentage-point decrease to 54.7 in January.
The NACM credit manager index, launched in January 2003, is a diffusion index in which a reading over 50 implies improving credit market conditions, while a reading under 50 suggests deterioration.
The overall index has exceeded 50 in every month of its history — extending back to January 2002.
The manufacturing index has been above 50 in each of the past 32 months.
The credit manager index is compiled from a survey of 500 credit managers conducted during the last 10 days of the month with about equal representation between the manufacturing and service sectors.
For more information on NACM’s Credit Manager’s Index, go to http://www.nacm.org/resource/press_release/pressJan05.html.
