Motor shipments increased during the third quarter of 2008, climbing one percent over the previous three-month period. The downward trend in demand for motors, however, continued as NEMA's Motors Shipment Index contracted on a year-over-year basis for the seventh time in the last eight quarters.  Unlike in recent quarters, fractional horsepower motors contributed positively to the topline index while sales of integral horsepower motors slipped.

According to NEMA, the effects of the credit crisis and the spillover of a U.S. economic downturn is weighing on growth prospects across the globe, further dimming demand for durable goods such as integral and fractional motors. As a result, NEMA/BIS expects declines in the shipments index to continue over the next several quarters.