The gains from the end of last year have carried forward according to the January Credit Managers’ Index (CMI), which rose from 54.4 to 54.8. This early activity is somewhat reminiscent of the enthusiasm that started 2011, but there are signs that this period of recovery might have more staying power than it did a year ago, according to the National Association of Credit Management (NACM).

The fear had been that all of these late gains would vanish as soon as the holiday impetus was gone, but the January CMI numbers suggest that this is not the case-at least thus far. The most welcome gain was in sales. The reading in December was respectable at 60.5, but the new sales reading is at 63.5, the best performance since April 2011.

It is more than a little encouraging that the January reading for this year is the same as it was in January 2011. Last year, that growth was followed by a very strong February at 66.3 and two more months with readings above 64, but the bottom dropped out in May and got progressively worse through the summer, according to NACM.

“The next few months will bear watching to see if this sales trend is repeated and sustained longer than it was in 2011,” said Chris Kuehl, PhD, NACM economist.

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