Inquiries Index Increases and Outlook Maintains Strength while Billings Index Cools Down

• May business performance continues to be optimistic even with the dip in billings from April’s record high index.
  • Billings index decreased by 9.1 points to 59.1 for May, but still showing business growth*. This fall in billings is not surprising after the record-setting month of April (68.2).
    • The three-month moving average for the billings index is at 62.4, the second highest reading in the survey’s history and demonstrates month-over-month stability.
  • Inquiries index* moved up 2.1 points to 66.8, indicating continued strength for future business.
    • Over the last three months, the inquiries index recorded readings ranked within the top 10 historically for the survey (March: 6^th, April: 8^th, May: 4^th) showing peak performance.
  • All four regions registered readings above 50 for the month of May, led by the Northeast who increased by 5.8 points to 71.1 (Midwest: 57.4, South: 61.6, West: 53.8). 
  • Six-month outlook remained unchanged at 68.0; this is the fifth consecutive month with a reading above 60 which means panelists have felt very optimistic about the future of business conditions for this year since the beginning of 2021.
• Concerns surrounding COVID-19 are stabilizing as May is the third consecutive month achieving an average below three, at 2.68 for May (1- No concern/Business as usual to 5- High concern/Anxiety from disruption and unknown).
• When asked about their change in virtual event participation once tradeshows/conferences return to in-person status, panelists see virtual events to have continued value with over half anticipating their level of participation not to decrease (28% expect to increase and 31% to stay the same).

*Note: Any score above 50 represents expansion (i.e., growth) and below 50 represents contraction (i.e., decline).