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Unexpected improvements for May CMI

NACM’s seasonally adjusted combined Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) for May 2025 improved 0.7 points to 54.7. “The improvement in May was somewhat unexpected given that 10% across the board tariffs were put in place the first week of April along with very high tariffs that affected all imports from China,” said NACM Economist Amy Crews Cutts, Ph.D., CBE.
 |  Sara Asomaning, Managing Editor  | 

NACM’s seasonally adjusted combined Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) for May 2025 improved 0.7 points to 54.7. “The improvement in May was somewhat unexpected given that 10% across the board tariffs were put in place the first week of April along with very high tariffs that affected all imports from China,” said NACM Economist Amy Crews Cutts, Ph.D., CBE.

The Index for Unfavorable Factors improved to 50.8, just over the line of expansion. Although only one of the six factors is in contraction, none of the factors in expansion are more than 2 points above the threshold.

Favorable factors increased by 0.9 points in this month’s survey. Half of the factor indexes improved, with dollar sales leading the improvement.

What respondents are saying:

  • “We are struggling to forecast business activity and manage supply chains because of trade policy volatility, with no indication of what might last longer term.”
  • “More customers are using credit lines than ever before and we’re having more customers going delinquent than previous months.”
  • “Open orders in the pipeline remain fairly steady to this point. We continue to see strategic moves by our suppliers and customers to account for the tariffs. We are also still seeing consolidation in the form of mergers and acquisitions.”

The full report can be found here. The importance of your contributions to the survey every month cannot be overstated. Participate in the June CMI.

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Sara Asomaning, Managing Editor

Sara Asomaning holds a B.S. in English from Towson University. With a background in writing, copyediting and proofreading, she has a keen eye for detail. Outside of work, she spends much of her time being creative with music, photography, and social media content creation.