The National Association of Credit Management’s (NACM) economic report for August 2012 effectively eliminated the threat of a summer slump with improvements in both the manufacturing and service sectors.

The NACM said for the past several years, the Credit Managers Index (CMI) has consistently predicted the performance of the greater economy by roughly a month. In 2008, when the majority of the economic indicators pointed toward more growth, the CMI had already started to track downward and essentially predicted the impending recession. This indicative quality has been noted and is largely attributed to the nature of the credit manager’s world, which essentially focuses on the future. Credit managers are more concerned about what is happening in the next 30, 60, 90 or 120 days