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GARDNER BUSINESS 44 MoldMaking Technology —— JANUARY 2018 MOLDMAKING Index Shows Continued Growth in 2017 Employment and Production Lift Index, at 52.8 for November Michael Guckes is the chief economist for Gardner Intelligence, a division of Gardner Business Media (Cincinnati, Ohio, United States). He has performed economic analysis, modeling and forecasting work for nearly 20 years among a range of industries. He is available at mguckes@gardnerweb.com. November saw the slowest growth of the Moldmaking Index of any month in the calendar year. Still, the year-to- date period shows that the Moldmaking Index has an average reading of 55.5, which puts it on-track to have its best year since the Moldmaking Index began. November's export reading indicated significant contraction in November. Volatile exports readings the third and fourth quarters of the year have seen exports swing between mild expansion and moderate contraction. November's contraction in exports, in part, may have slowed the growth in overall new orders. PRESENTED BY ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence. For more information, visit gardnerintelligence.com. Moldmaking Index New Orders and Exports (3-Month Moving Averages) Registering 52.8 for November, the Gardner Business Index (GBI): Moldmaking expanded at its slowest pace of any month in 2017. In spite of this, the 2017 year-to-date average for the Moldmaking Index of 55.5 suggests that 2017 is on pace to be one of the fastest growing calen- dar years since the inception of the Moldmaking Index. For the sake of reference, 2014 was an excellent year, and it experienced an average reading of 53.9. For the year-to-date period, the Moldmaking Index has increased by 1.7 percent. Gardner Intelligence's review of the underly- ing data for the month indicates that employment, production and supplier deliveries lifted the Moldmaking Index higher while new orders, backlog and exports pulled the Moldmaking Index lower. The employment reading was the only component to increase during November. For the month, backlog contracted for the first time this year, and exports contracted at its fastest pace in the calendar year. Measuring only custom processors, the Moldmaking Index also fell in November. Examining custom processors only, the Moldmaking Index is up 7.0 percent in the year-to-date period, bolstered by supplier deliveries and held back by backlog and exports. 7/13 1/14 7/14 1/15 7/15 1/16 7/16 1/17 7/17 40 45 50 55 60 52.8 7/13 1/14 7/14 1/15 7/15 1/16 7/16 1/17 7/17 40 45 50 55 60 Exports New Orders