Austria: PMI stable in April
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released by Bank Austria was stable at the prior month’s result of 58.0 points in April, remaining well-anchored above the 50-threshold separating expansion from contraction in Austria’s manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector has remained in expansionary territory for 37 consecutive months, the longest run in the history of the survey that began nearly 20 years ago.
In April, a pick-up in output and employment growth was offset by slower growth in new orders. Production increased from the prior month primarily on the back of a rebound in consumer goods output growth. Meanwhile, employment grew at one of the quickest paces in the survey’s history in April; nevertheless, backlogs of work increased. For the fourth consecutive month, the pace of growth in new orders slowed, and new export orders expanded at the softest rate in a year-and-a-half.
Supply chains remained under pressure in April, and delivery times of inputs widened again. This helped keep inflation afloat as input prices increased strongly. As a result, output prices also grew at a strong pace. Output expectations moderated to the lowest level in 11 months but remained resilient.