Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 0.7 percent during January 2020.

The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through January 2020 is 5.5 percent.

"Heating degree days were below normal in 47 of the 48 states," said HARDI Market Research and Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. "The average sales growth for the month was about flat to start the new year, while the dollar weighted growth was 2.5 percent. The average annual growth rate ticked up a bit to 5.5 percent."

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is near 51 days.

"The DSO was a bit higher than the recent Decembers," said Loftus. "This is the third consecutive month that the DSO has been about a day or more higher than the prior year. The economy has been growing in the 2 percent area. The consensus expectation before the impact of COVID-19 was for that pace to ease in the new year.

"The financial markets seem to be indicating those expectations need to be trimmed further. The economic data will begin to reflect our interconnected world, like increasing delivery times and inventory shortages."

HARDI members do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their monthly sales data and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty. Participation is voluntary, and the depth of market coverage varies from region to region. An independent entity collects and compiles the data that can include products not directly associated with the HVACR industry.