Two months into the year, attitudes toward the future of the electroindustry business were looking brighter for 2023, according to a survey by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).
February’s current conditions score reached 63.3 (out of 100, with greater than 50 indicating expansion in the sector), jumping by 17 points from January after spending much of 2022 at the same level.
While the majority of participants cited that conditions were “unchanged,” about one-third reported “better” conditions, which contributed to the overall higher score. Growth in electrification and investments in infrastructure contributed to the jump, according to NEMA, with one participant’s comment stating that “strong continued demand in EV, utility, and data centers” affected the rating they provided.
The survey results, published in NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index, is based on the responses of senior managers in NEMA’s North American network, including lighting and electrical manufacturers. The participants are asked every month to rate the economic conditions of the electroindustry in North America on a –5 to +5 numerical scale and provide comments on how they expect conditions to change within the next six months, with regards to how it affects their own businesses.
In February, future conditions made a slightly higher jump, improving by 20 points for a score of 66.7. The increase primarily resulted from fewer participants saying that they expected worse conditions to affect their work in the next six months.
However, this optimism was short-lived as the results of the March survey were published, and the conditions score fell back down to 50, suggesting that respondents felt that conditions had not changed from February, according to NEMA. In 2022, this section only improved twice, with the last time being in April. For the third month in a row, the median value remained at zero.
Looking toward future conditions, respondents in March felt concerned about higher interest rates, lower consumer spending and a slowing economy, according to the report.