With a score above 60, the AV sales index once again presents us with a question: Are we witnessing an improving market situation or just a one-month outlier? The last time the index topped 60 was back in March, with the last sustained period in early 2024. Whether outlier or not, the longer-term trend shows definite improvement from late 2024 and early 2025, indicating accelerated growth as we enter the final phase of the year.
The general upward trend may reflect a bit more certainty relating to the tariff situation. The data does show a decline in the percentage of providers who report the political environment as a challenge, though inflation and rising costs remain an issue.
This correlates with the broader inflation indicators, showing slight upticks in more recent readings. The U.S. federal government’s preferred indicator of inflation, the core PCE, ticked up to 2.9% in July, the highest rating since February, though only up 0.1 points from June. Still, these factors did not appear to blunt the sales results reported by the AV channel in August.
On the employment side, the AV Employment Index continues to show a slow and steady result, in alignment with the broader job market. The index dipped only 0.2 points to 55.5, showing marked consistency from month to month.
Whether outlier or not, the longer-term trend shows definite improvement from late 2024 and early 2023.
Broader employment data came in lower than expected for August, demonstrating a limited amount of hiring. The same could be said of the AV space, which continues to show hiring at a low pace of growth. Some comments suggest staffing levels remain conservatively low as a hedge against potential slowdowns, putting some strain on existing resources.
The Pro AV Business Index report is derived from a monthly survey of the AVIXA Insights Community, a research community of industry members that tracks business trends in commercial AV. The report comprises two diffusion indexes: the AV Sales Index (AVI-S) and the AV Employment Index (AVI-E). In each case, an index above 50 indicates an increase in sales or employment activity.
Visit www.avixa.org/AVindex to access the free monthly Pro-AV Business Index reports and learn more about the methodology. For more information about joining the AVIXA Insights Community, visit www.avixa.org/AVIP.
