Michigan Retail Index May 2009 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 31 (27) 54 (58) 15 (15) 35.2 (32.8) 116 (119) Inventory 19 (17) 44 (41) 37 (42) 35.9 (36.8) 115 (117) Prices 30 (22) 13 (10) 57 (68) 60.3 (54.1) 113 (118) Promotions 41 (39) 13 (5) 46 (56) 64.8 (64.9) 114 (118) Hiring 10 (8) 22 (21) 68 (71) 41.9 (44.1) 114 (116) 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 34 (39) 40 (34) 26 (27) 45.6 (52.2) 116 (119) Inventory 26 (21) 43 (34) 31 (45) 39.3 (43.3) 115 (116) Prices 28 (26) 10 (7) 62 (67) 60.6 (60.2) 114 (118) Promotions 51 (48) 10 (3) 39 (49) 73.9 (75.0) 115 (118) Hiring 7 (15) 16 (15) 77 (70) 44.8 (49.1) 115 (118) 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 36 (40) 52 (36) 12 (24) West 37 (58) 46 (25) 17 (17) Central 21 (32) 58 (21) 21 (47) East 45 (33) 33 (45) 22 (22) Southeast 26 (15) 65 (62) 9 (23)Question of the Month In the past six months, have you reduced your total number of employees?
Yes No 41.4% 58.6%In the past six months, have you reduced the number of hours your current employees work?
Yes No 47.4% 52.6%*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