The start of the second quarter saw a modest acceleration in the rate of expansion of global private sector economic activity.
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Although growth failed to recover and match the highs seen around the turn of the year, it remained solid and was in line with its long-run trend.
The J.P.Morgan Global All-Industry Output Index1,2 – which is produced by J.P.Morgan and IHS Markit in association with ISM and IFPSM – rose to 53.8 in April, up from 53.3 in March.
The index has signalled expansion in each of the past 67 months.
Please note that, due to a later-than-usual release date, PMI data for Russian manufacturing, Russian services and Myanmar manufacturing were not available for inclusion in the April 2018 global PMI numbers.
Concurrent upturns continued in the manufacturing and service sectors, with output increasing at slightly faster rates in both categories.
The breadth of the expansion also extended across the six sub-industries covered by the survey.
Activity rose across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries and at providers of business, consumer and financial services.
The pattern of the expansion appears to be changing, however, with the US taking a firmer driving role as the upturn in the euro area cools.
Output growth accelerated in the US to a two-month high and was among the best seen over the past two-and-a-half years.
The rate of expansion in the eurozone remained robust, but has eased noticeably since hitting a near 12-year high in January.
Australia also saw an above global-average increase in economic activity.
Growth improved in China, Japan, the UK and India, but remained below the world average in all four cases.
The upturn in Brazil also continued, although the pace of expansion was only modest and the weakest during the current four-month sequence of increase.
Incoming new business rose again in April, extending the current run of growth to 106 consecutive months.
Moreover, the pace of expansion strengthened and remained sufficient to test capacity.
Backlogs of work increased for the twenty-first month in a row.
Employment rose again in April.
The rate of jobs growth remained among the best registered over the past decade.
Staffing levels increased in the US, the euro area, Japan, the UK, India and Australia.
Employment was unchanged in China and fell again in Brazil.
Input price inflation remained solid during April, leading to a further increase in average output charges.
Rates of increase in both price measures were (on average) faster in developed nations compared to emerging markets. ■