The Credit Management Index (CMI), published monthly by the National Association of Credit Managers, has broken past the 50 neutral barrier for the first time in over a year. The index started in that direction in September when the service side of the equation improved to 50.1, but manufacturing still lagged, finishing at 49.6. Now both sectors are showing expansion and the CMI as a whole is pointing toward growth.

NACM's economic analyst, Chris Kuehl, says that the manufacturing improvement "is a pretty sharp gain given the slow development over the last several months. While it took from July to September to move 1.3 points, it only took one month for the sector to move 1.6 points to reach October's numbers. This is rapid expansion by any measure."

Kuehl also sees evidence that companies are catching up on their debt. "Over the last few weeks, I have spoken at a several NACM events and have heard similar stories at each. Companies that had been behind in their obligations are catching up in anticipation of further growth and the need to ask for more credit in the future. By the same token, comments by attendees suggest that there is more money starting to filter into the system, making credit more accessible than it has been in some time," he says.

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