Global Economic Analysis and News of Note: Global Manufacturing PMI At 27-Month High
- The JP Morgan Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.1 in November, a 27-month high, from 52.0 in October. JP Morgan Director of Global Economic Coordination David Hensley said, “Output growth may have eased slightly, but the stronger trends in new order inflows and backlogs of work suggest that production will continue to rise at a solid pace in the near-term. Price pressures are rising, however, as input cost inflation hit a five-year high to drive up average factory gate selling prices for a third month running.”
- The Markit PMI for the Eurozone increased to 51.7 in November from 51.5 in October due to increased strength in the manufacturing sectors in the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, and Germany. Markit said, “Operating conditions improved to the greatest degree since the start of 2014, underpinned by further growth in production volumes, rising staffing levels and stronger inflows of new work.” The United Kingdom’s PMI from Markit, meanwhile, fell to 53.4 from 54.2 because of lower output, a lower rate of new orders, and the fact that a “weak exchange rate was having a continued sharp cost inflationary impact, leading to higher selling prices at the factory gate.”
- PMI readings in Asia for November were mixed. Even though Caixin argued “Chinese manufacturing production continued to expand at a robust pace in November,” the group’s PMI reading for China fell to 50.9 last month from 52.1 in October. India’s PMI fell to 52.3 in November from 54.4 in October due to declines in output and new orders. In Japan, new orders increased at their sharpest rate since January and production expanded for fourth consecutive month, but the Nikkei PMI dipped slightly, to 51.3 in November from 51.4 in October. South Korea’s PMI held steady at 48.0 while output and new orders continued to decline. The Nikkei index for Vietnam rose to 54.0 from 51.7 in October due to strong growth in new orders and the fact that firms took on extra staff and increased purchasing. Taiwan’s PMI rose to 54.7 from 52.7 due to sharp rises in output, purchasing, and new orders. And, finally, the Nikkei ASEAN PMI, which covers the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore rose to 49.4 in November, up from 49.2 in October even though there were “uneven performances” in the manufacturing economies across the region.
- As a reminder, all PMI readings can be found here.