A quiet December on the manufacturing front has seen the Performance of Manufacturing Index remain in contraction territory at 47.6, down slightly from November by 0.1.
As detailed by the Australian Industry Group and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the December PMI saw contractions in most manufacturing sub-sectors, with employment losing gains from November and shrinking once again.
The food and beverage sub-sector was a standout for most of 2013, and remained expansionary in December (although at a reduced rate), whilst wood and paper products and the related print and recorded media sub-sectors also expanded.
It would appear that the ‘catch-up’ the market saw post the September federal election has played out and Australia has a sustained, slightly contracting manufacturing future ahead of it for the next few months.
In contrast with the Australian PMI result, the USA, Eurozone, UK, Japan and China have all recorded expansionary results from their last monthly reporting period. How much this discrepancy can be laid at currency concerns is best left debated by the economists.
Performance of Manufacturing Index figures are released every month, with a view to giving decision-makers market intelligence regarding forward planning.
The December Performance of Manufacturing Index results can be downloaded here: Dec 2013 PMI
