Michigan Retail Index March 2009 results Index figures dating to July 1994 are available at www.retailers.com/news/retailindex.html March 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 February results) % Increased % Decreased % No Change Index* Responses Sales 31 (32) 55 (54) 14 (14) 39.4 (40.8) 135 (132) Inventory 14 (12) 51 (57) 35 (31) 30.0 (28.7) 134 (131) Prices 29 (33) 16 (17) 55 (50) 56.7 (56.1) 135 (131) Promotions 36 (35) 10 (11) 54 (54) 62.9 (63.9) 135 (130) Hiring 8 (8) 24 (32) 68 (60) 42.6 (39.8) 132 (131) 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 February results) % Increased % Decreased % No Change Index* Responses Sales 39 (34) 36 (41) 25 (25) 47.8 (44.6) 136 (131) Inventory 23 (19) 39 (40) 38 (41) 39.0 (35.3) 133 (128) Prices 29 (35) 8 (6) 63 (59) 59.0 (63.0) 133 (130) Promotions 45 (49) 8 (6) 47 (45) 65.9 (69.4) 135 (128) Hiring 7 (8) 19 (22) 74 (70) 41.8 (41.4) 133 (130) March 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 38 (41) 48 (35) 14 (24) West 39 (43) 47 (36) 14 (21) Central 35 (55) 55 (25) 10 (20) East 0 (25) 87 (50) 13 (25) Southeast 34 (33) 53 (39) 13 (28) Question of the Month Compared to a year ago, how difficult are you finding it to get credit or loans for your business? Much Less Less More Much More Difficult Difficult Same Difficult Difficult 0.9% 0.9% 64.0% 17.5% 16.7% *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.
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