January PMI data from Unicredit Bank Austria signalled an ongoing strong performance of the Austrian manufacturing sector at the start of 2018.
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The overall pace of growth slowed from December’s survey record, but was still one of the best ever recorded since the survey began in October 1998.
Growth of output, new orders, exports and employment all remained elevated, while purchasing activity increased at the fastest rate on record.
Input price inflation eased only slightly from December’s 80-month record, while output prices rose at the second-fastest rate in over six-and-a-half years.
The headline UniCredit Bank Austria Manufacturing PMI is a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance.
It is derived from indicators for new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases.
Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement of the sector.
The PMI fell to a three-month low of 61.3 in January, from December’s all-time high of 64.3.
The latest figure was still the fourth-highest level on record, however, and signalled a rapid improvement in business conditions.
At 34 months, the current sequence of positive PMI readings is also a survey record.
UniCredit Bank Austria Manufacturing PMI Inflows of new work at Austrian manufacturers continued to increase markedly in January.
The rate of growth slowed from December’s survey record, but was still one of the strongest registered over the survey history.
A similar trend was evident for new export business, with reports of strong European demand.
Production also increased at a slower but strong overall pace in January, again driven by the intermediate and investment goods sectors.
Backlogs of work increased at one of the fastest rates since the series began in September 2002, despite the fourth-sharpest rise in employment on record.
Supply chains remained under intense pressure at the start of 2018. Delivery times for inputs ordered lengthened to the third-greatest extent in the survey history.
This reflected marked demand, as the volume of purchasing activity rose at the fastest rate on record. ■