NEMA Lighting Systems Index Rises Again; Third Consecutive Quarter of Growth, National Lighting Bureau Reports 

Silver Spring, MD: First-quarter 2010 performance of the NEMA Lighting Systems Index (LSI) was 1.1% ahead of results for the fourth quarter of 2009, the National Lighting Bureau (NLB) reports, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth.  

Established in 1998, NEMA’s LSI is a composite measure (adjusted for the season and inflation) of lamps, luminaires, ballasts, emergency lighting, exit signs, and other lighting products shipped nationally and internationally from the United States by the 450 companies that comprise the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). The Index uses 2002 data for its 100-point benchmark. 

“The growth has been modest,” Bureau Executive Director John Bachner said, “but that’s to be expected. What we cannot help but be excited about is the trend.” Bachner noted that first-quarter 2010 LSI performance was 1.2% better than first-quarter 2009’s, marking the first time since the second quarter of 2006 that the Index registered an appreciable year-over-year gain.  

Miniature-lamp and fluorescent-ballast shipments were particularly strong, Bachner noted, adding that the gains involved more than offset slight dips in shipments of large lamps, emergency lighting equipment, and fixtures.                                                                                                   

Brian Lego, NEMA’s director of economic analysis, said that Lighting Systems Index gains reflect improvement of the U.S. economy as a whole: “Real GDP increased 3.2 percent on an annualized basis during the first quarter of 2010 and has expanded at an average annualized rate of nearly 4 percent over the last three quarters. As was the case in the fourth quarter of 2009, inventory investment contributed greatly to growth; however, capital spending has increased at a double-digit pace in the past two quarters and consumer spending posted its largest percentage gain in three years. Moreover, other data sources such as the ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing surveys, durable goods orders and payrolls paint a picture of an economy beginning to gain some traction.” Nonetheless, Lego said, a “double-dip recession cannot be ruled out entirely,” although the probability of that event “is shrinking rapidly.” 

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Bachner observed, pointing out that shipments, while improving, remain weak compared to what they were in years past. “The Index hit 77 during the first quarter of 2010. It hit 105 four years earlier.” Lego echoed Bachner’s sentiments, saying that the LSI is expected to see only modest gains “at best” for the balance of 2010, because key lighting-equipment demand drivers “have yet to see their prospects improve. The residential market has been volatile for the past year and the recent expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit could cause housing demand to remain flat, or even weaken, through the end of the year absent a stronger turnaround in the labor market. Private nonresidential lighting equipment demand is expected to weaken further over the course of the year as companies continue to pull back on new construction in the face of tight lending conditions and still-rising vacancy rates. While retrofitting activity could bolster demand for commercial lighting equipment to some extent, outdoor equipment and other systems used in public sector projects are likely to see the largest boost in shipments over the near term thanks to the ongoing process of spending out stimulus funds on construction projects.”  

The NEMA Lighting Systems Index can be viewed at www.nlb.org/Index/. 

Established in 1976, the National Lighting Bureau is a not-for-profit, independent, lighting-information source sponsored by professional societies, trade associations,

manufacturers, and agencies of the U.S. government, including, among others:

• enLIGHTen America;
• GE Lighting;
• Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES);
• Imperial Lighting Maintenance Company;
• International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD);
• interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO);
• Lighting Alternatives, Inc.;
• Lighting Controls Association;
• Lutron Electronics Company, Inc.;
• Magnaray;
• National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA);
• National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA);
• OSRAM SYLVANIA; and
• U.S. General Services Administration.

For more information about the Bureau, visit the Bureau’s website (www.nlb.org) or contact Bureau staff at info@nlb.org or 301/587-9572.  

NEMA is one of the National Lighting Bureau’s founding sponsors and creator of the enLIGHTen America communications campaign (www.nemasavesenergy.org). NEMA members manufacture a wide range of products used in the generation, transmission, distribution, and control of electricity, as well as innumerable end-use products in addition to those used in lighting. Worldwide sales of NEMA members’ products exceed $120 billion.