Industrial Heating magazine's newly established Economic Indicators made strong gains in May 2002. All four indices were up. The May index numbers released on June 7, 2002, reflect the changes experienced by responding companies from March 2002 to April 2002. Request for Proposal Index rose from 53.2 in April to 53.6 in May, Number of Orders Index rose from 45.5 in April to 50.0 in May, Size of Backlog Index rose from 43.5 in April to 46.9 in May, and General Health of the Thermal Processing Industry Index rose from 45.3 in April to 49.5 in May. A number above 50 indicates increased activity.

Roughly 300 industry suppliers are surveyed the first full week of each month. If you are an industry supplier and would like to participate in this monthly survey, please contact Industrial Heating Publisher, Doug Glenn at 412-531-3370 or by e-mail doug@industrialheating.com.