Eurozone manufacturing PMI improves to three-month high in November

According to the report from IHS Markit, November saw the continued contraction of the euro area manufacturing economy, albeit at the slowest rate for three months. 

Eurozone Manufacturing PMI improved to 46.9 in November, compared to October’s 45.9 and above the earlier flash reading (46.6). Whilst a relative improvement, the PMI nonetheless remained well below the crucial 50.0 no-change mark and extended the current period of contraction to ten months.

At the market groups level, both the intermediate and investment goods sectors remained inside contraction territory during November, although in each case rates of decline were weaker. Operating conditions for consumer goods producers were unchanged compared to October. 

At the aggregate eurozone level, ongoing declines in output and new orders were again recorded. For production, the rate of contraction was however the slowest in three months, whilst new work recorded its mildest fall since June.  November’s reduction in new work nonetheless maintained a run of contraction that began in October 2018. A similar trend was seen for new export orders, which also fell for a fourteenth successive month but at the weakest pace since June.

Finally, there was a notable improvement in business confidence to a five-month high in November as sentiment continued to recover from August’s near seven-year low. All nations covered by the survey indicated some optimism that output would be higher than present levels in 12 months’ time, albeit to varying degrees