German private sector output growth strengthens in August
Staff Writer |
German private sector output growth strengthened slightly in August, according to flash PMI survey data from IHS Markit.
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The overall rate of expansion picked up from July’s ten-month low, a trend reflected in both manufacturing output and services business activity.
Similarly, new business inflows increased at a faster rate in August, having slowed the previous month.
Growth of output was broadly in line with the strong trend shown over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, employment continued to rise sharply in August and input cost inflation hit a fourmonth high.
The IHS Markit Flash Germany Composite Output Index registered 55.7 in August, up from 54.7 in July and indicating a sharp overall rate of expansion.
The index was broadly in line with its trend level over the past 12 months (55.6).
Output has risen continuously since May 2013, the secondlongest sequence of growth since the series started in January 1998.
Manufacturing output continued to expand at a faster rate than service sector activity in August.
The pace of growth accelerated from July’s sixmonth low, and was the third-fastest in over threeand-a-half years.
Services business activity also rose more sharply than in July, but growth was the second-slowest in seven months.
New business received by German private sector firms increased for the thirty-second consecutive month in August.
After having weakened to a sixmonth low in July, the rate of expansion accelerated and was broadly in line with the trend shown over 2017 so far.
The overall pace of growth masked another muted rise in new business in the service sector, however, as manufacturing new orders increased at the third-fastest rate in over six years.
Notably, new export orders at goods producers increased at the sharpest rate since May 2010, with strong demand from Asia in particular.
Faster growth of manufacturing output and total new orders was reflected in a rise in the IHS Markit Flash Germany Manufacturing PMI to 59.4 in August, from 58.1 in July.
This was the third-highest level in over six years.
Private sector employment in Germany continued to rise at a historically marked rate mid-way through the third quarter.
The pace of job creation eased slightly since July, mainly reflecting a softer rise in service sector jobs, but was strong overall. ■