News & Insights

In November, the global manufacturing sector stabilized at 50.0 after contracting for four consecutive months. Three of the five PMI components were at levels consistent with expansion, as output and new orders registered meager growth, and average vendor lead times lengthened. On the other hand, employment and stocks of purchases both declined but at slower rates than the month prior.

The shift from contraction to stabilization is reflective of improvement of operating conditions in China and the rest of Asia and easing of conditions in the U.S. On the other hand, this improvement in business conditions was contrasted by a deep downturn in the Eurozone and Germany in particular. Growth was fastest in India, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain compared to other surveyed countries.

Data broken down by sector exhibited that output growth of consumer and intermediate goods producers more than offset a further downturn in the investment goods category. Increased production was due to new orders stabilizing and clearing backlogs of work.

In November, manufacturing employment declined for the fourth consecutive month but at a slightly slower rate than the prior month. Job cuts were reported in the Eurozone, China, the U.K. and Japan, while the U.S., India and Brazil registered employment growth. Nevertheless, confidence rose to a six-month high, with optimism improving across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries. On the other hand, inflationary pressures picked up, with both input prices and output charges rising.