United States. The International Association of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors (HARDI) released its monthly Trends report, showing that average sales by HARDI distributor members increased by 7 percent in March 2017.
The annualized average growth for the 12 months to March 2017 was 8.0 percent. The annual rate has stood at-o-over 8 percent since September 2016.
"The heating season ended on a good note after warm February," said Brian Loftus, market research and benchmarking analyst at HARDI. "The growth rate was helped by strong growth in the Southwest that benefited from an unusually warm period."
"Our leading indicators continue to improve," said Connor Lokar, senior economist at HARDI. "The overall increase in the Purchasing Managers' Index suggests a cyclical increase in U.S. industrial production in early 2018."
Sales Pending Days (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their invoices, is close to 49 days. "The DSO has increased from 46 at the beginning of the year, but that's not a cause for concern," Loftus said. "This increase is consistent with the normal seasonal pattern. The latest DSO is almost equal to the level of March 2016."
