Eurozone manufacturing PMI hits fresh record high in April

According to the report from IHS Markit, the eurozone manufacturing economy registered another stellar performance in April, with operating conditions improving at a rate that surpassed March’s survey record. 

Seasonally adjusted headline PMI improved to 62.9, up from 62.5 in March and its highest ever recorded level (survey data have been available since June 1997). It was also the tenth successive month that the index has posted above the 50.0 no-change mark.

Growth was again broad-based per market group, with both the investment and intermediate goods categories registering considerable gains. Moreover, the improvement seen in investment goods was the strongest ever recorded. Consumer goods meanwhile saw a marked improvement in operating conditions, though growth lagged the two other categories covered by the survey. 

Commenting on the final Manufacturing PMI data, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said: “Eurozone manufacturing is booming, with a new PMI record set for a second month running in April. The past two months have seen output and order books both improve at rates unsurpassed since the survey began in 1997, with surging demand boosted by economies opening up from COVID-19 lockdowns and brightening prospects for the year ahead. However, supply constraints are also running at unprecedented levels, leading to a record build-up of uncompleted orders at factories. The consequence of demand running ahead of supply is higher prices being charged by manufacturers, which are now also rising at the fastest rate ever recorded by the survey. The big uncertainty is how long these upward price pressures will persist for, and the extent to which these higher charges for goods and services will feed-though to consumers.”