Austrian manufacturing growth slows further in March
Staff Writer |
The latest PMI data from Unicredit Bank Austria signalled a further moderation in growth of the Austrian manufacturing sector in March, alt hough business conditions still improved at a strong overall rate.
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Output, new orders and exports all increased at the weakest rates in 17 months.
More positively, employment growth remained at one of the highest levels on record.
Input and output price inflation also slowed during the latest period, but remained sharp overall in both cases.
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 ten-month low of 58.0 in March, down from February’s 59.2.
The latest figure was still well above the long-run average of 52.2, however, and signalled a marked improvement in business conditions.
At 36 months, the current sequence of positive PMI readings is the longest in the survey’s nineteen-and-a-half-year history.
Inflows of new work at Austrian manufacturers increased for the twenty-seventh consecutive month in March.
The rate of growth was strong overall, but weakened to the slowest since October 2016.
Growth of new export business also moderated to a 17-month low.
Backlogs of work continued to rise in March, despite the slower increase in new business.
Outstanding contracts have risen since September 2016, and the rate of growth was strong despite easing to a 16-month low.
Production also increased at a slower but strong overall pace in March, with the rate of expansion the weakest since October 2016.
Notably, a further fall in consumer goods output was registered.
Manufacturing employment growth remained historically sharp in March.
The rate of job creation eased to a five-month low, but was still the seventhhighest on record.
Supply chains remained under intense pressure in March, as delivery times for inputs ordered lengthened to the third-greatest extent in the survey history.
This was despite the slowest growth of purchasing activity in nearly a year.
Price pressures eased in March but remained strong overall.
Input price inflation slowed to a seven-month low, but remained well above the long-run survey trend.
Similarly, output prices also rose at a strong, albeit slower, rate. ■