May's CMI Continues to Trend Upward
May's Credit Managers' Index (CMI) saw an uptick for the second month in a row, reaching a combined score of 55.7. This is the first month since August and September of 2018 that the CMI saw two consecutive upticks. April's reading came in at 54, meaning the combined score went up more than a point.
The combined sales category in favorables jumped nearly five points and now sits comfortably in expansion territory at around 66. The unfavorables also fared well this month, but the jumps were not quite as drastic as the sales category in the favorables.
This month may have instilled a trend in 2019's CMI.
"Dare we say that we might have a trend?" NACM Economist Chris Kuehl, Ph.D, said. " … There are signs that some of this momentum will certainly carry forward through the bulk of the summer. If there are warning signs ahead, they seem to be toward the latter part of the year."
To learn more about May 2019's CMI, read about it in May 30's issue of eNews, and read Kuehl's full report on NACM's webiste May 31.
—Christie Citranglo, editorial associate
