CMI stays nearly flat

The November Credit Managers' Index dropped slightly to 53.5, the third consecutive relatively flat month. The October CMI was 53.7, according to a news release from the National Association of Credit Management.

The CMI is created based on a monthly survey of credit and collection professionals, who are asked to rate favorable and unfavorable factors in their monthly business cycle. Any index number greater than 50 indicates growth.

“If one is of a more pessimistic bent, there is the continued high rate of unemployment, the struggles in the housing sector and the sense that nobody in the political realm has a clue what to do about any of this. There is the mess in Europe, the gyrations in stocks and consumer polls that suggest that vast numbers of people are in bed with the covers pulled over their heads," said Chris Kuehl, economist for the National Association of Credit Management, in the release. "If you tend toward optimistic, there is something for you as well, especially recently.”

The release pointed to an increase in dollars collections to 56.9 and a jump in the amount of credit extended to 62.4.

Despite a 7 percent increase in Black Friday sales, overall sales dropped to 58.2 in November, the lowest rate in the last year.

The National Association of Credit Management, based in Columbia, Md., serves more than 15,000 business credit and financial professionals worldwide.[[In-content Ad]]