Michigan Retail Index May 2008 results Index figures dating to July 1994 are available at www.retailers.com/news/retailindex.html May Performance Retailers reporting increased, decreased or unchanged sales, inventory, prices, promotions and hiring compared to the same month a year ago (numbers in parentheses indicate April results) % Increased % Decreased % No Change Index* Responses Sales 38 (36) 45 (45) 17 (19) 43.4 (43.3) 132 (108) Inventory 28 (35) 34 (37) 38 (28) 43.7 (46.4) 130 (107) Prices 45 (55) 9 (5) 46 (40) 68.9 (73.8) 131 (107) Promotions 30 (37) 8 (9) 62 (54) 62.0 (62.0) 131 (105) Hiring 10 (7) 17 (19) 73 (74) 44.8 (44.3) 131 (106) Outlook for Next 3 Months Retailers expecting increased, decreased or unchanged sales, inventory, prices, promotions and hiring compared to the same period a year ago (numbers in parentheses indicate April results) % Increased % Decreased % No Change Index* Responses Sales 40 (39) 30 (37) 30 (24) 53.0 (49.0) 131 (108) Inventory 25 (21) 32 (37) 43 (42) 45.6 (40.1) 130 (107) Prices 49 (46) 6 (4) 45 (50) 74.3 (71.8) 131 (107) Promotions 31 (38) 4 (4) 65 (58) 65.6 (69.5) 130 (106) Hiring 7 (8) 13 (12) 80 (80) 46.3 (46.6) 130 (105) May Sales Performance & Outlook for Next 3 Months, by Region (the first number indicates sales performance for the month; the number in parentheses indicates outlook for the next three months.) % Increased % Decreased % No Change North 44 (41) 37 (28) 19 (31) West 28 (44) 64 (28) 8 (28) Central 46 (38) 29 (37) 25 (25) East 50 (25) 33 (25) 17 (50) Southeast 31 (42) 51 (32) 18 (26) Question of the Month Are you noticing any sales improvement from the federal stimulus checks? Yes, a lot Yes, a little No Don't know 1.5% 14.5% 65.7% 18.3%*Seasonally adjusted diffusion index. A diffusion index, which is the sum of the percent of respondents indicating increase and half the percent indicating no change, is calculated and then seasonally adjusted using the U.S. Census Bureau's X-11 Seasonal Adjustment procedure. Index values above 50 generally indicate an increase in activity, while values below 50 indicate a decrease.
Contact Information: Contact: Tom Scott 517.372.5656