Purchasing professionals said their business confidence weakened in December, as the Global Purchasing Index dipped below the 100-point mark indicating economic optimism in the industry for the first time in nearly a year. Despite the slow end to 2014, GPI panel members said they look forward to a good first quarter of 2015, citing a backlog of orders that bodes well for January. “Data from our client base suggests a status quo during the month of December, though total quoted inquiries pending conversion is up, suggesting that January will be quite strong,” one panel member said. The GPI registered 99 in December, just below the 100-point mark that indicates economic optimism among purchasing professionals. That’s a 19% drop compared to November’s reading of 122. Conducted monthly, Global Purchasing’s GPI surveys a panel of 100 purchasing managers to gauge their business outlook, asking questions about pricing, inventories, lead times, purchasing trends, and customer orders. In December, panel members reported declines in all five categories, with the largest drops occurring in the new purchases and inventories indexes. Purchasing Activity Declines The new purchases index dropped 18% in December, as panel members reported buying fewer electronic components during the month. This follows a 3% decline in purchasing activity during November. The panel also reported declining inventory levels, as the GPI inventories index dropped 17% in December, indicating companies had fewer supplies on hand. The inventories index had been climbing in October and November after a 7% drop in September.