Italy: Manufacturing PMI records worst reading since June 2020 in August
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.0 in August from July’s 48.5. August’s result marked the weakest reading since June 2020. As such, the index fell further below the 50.0 no-change threshold, signaling a sharper deterioration in business conditions in the private sector compared to the previous month.
August’s deterioration was driven by weaker demand—both at home and abroad—which led to contractions in new orders and production. This led to firms to further cut down on their purchasing activity. More positively, softer demand appeared to ease constraints on capacity: supplier delivery times grew at the weakest pace since late 2020, there were further reductions in backlogs, and input costs rose at the lowest rate since October 2020.
S&P Global’s Lewis Cooper commented:
“The weak performance was reflected further in historically downbeat sentiment towards outlook over the coming year. Though firms, on average, expect output to be higher in 12 months’ time, fears of a recession are building further, which, combined with the war in Ukraine and inflationary concerns is weighing heavily on business confidence.”