Global Economic Analysis and News of Note
- The J.P. Morgan global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell slightly last month, to 51.6 in December from 51.8 in November. Declines in output, new orders and prices all contributed to the softer reading. The manufacturing sector in North America continued to strengthen in December while Asian sectors remained soft. (As a reminder, all PMI readings can be found on the Markit Economics website here.)
- The Markit PMI for the Eurozone rose to 50.6 in December from 50.1 in November. Markit also reported, “The average PMI reading over the final quarter as a whole (50.4) puts the manufacturing sector on course for its worst growth outcome since the current recovery started in Q3 2013. The quarterly averages for the output and new orders indices are similarly the weakest during that sequence.” France’s manufacturing index was at a four-month low while Germany’s reading improved to 51.2.
- The manufacturing sectors in various Asian nations were mixed in December. The HSBC PMI for China fell to 49.6 in December from 50.0 in November as new orders fell due to lagging domestic demand. Meanwhile, South Korea’s manufacturing index rose to 49.9 in December from 49.0 in November as the number of new orders rose and India’s PMI increased to 54.5 from 53.3 as output, new orders and new export orders all strengthened.