News

In August, global manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace since June 2024, rising from 49.7 to 50.9. Output and new orders also returned to growth in August after contracting in July. New export orders continued to decline but at a slower pace than the prior month. August’s recovery is challenging the prediction of a stall in global manufacturing activity in the second half of the year. On the other hand, forward-looking indicators are more downbeat, and the surge in finished goods inventory suggests the rebound could be due largely to stockpiling rather than an improvement in demand.

India, Colombia, Greece and Spain had the highest PMI readings in August. On the other hand, the U.K., Brazil and Canada were some of the larger nations to register declines in activity. The upturn in manufacturing output occurred across the consumer, intermediate goods and investment goods categories.

Additionally, manufacturing employment rose in August after declining for 14 consecutive months. However, staffing level increase was minimal. Meanwhile, price pressures picked up, with the rises in input and output costs accelerating to six- and four-month highs, respectively. Furthermore, inflationary pressure was pronounced particularly in the U.S., which experienced the steepest rise in output costs and second-fastest increase in input costs of the nations covered.