Brazil: Manufacturing PMI falls in September
Conditions in Brazil’s manufacturing sector deteriorated in September. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 51.1 in August to 50.9. Despite the fall, the PMI still lies above the crucial 50-threshold and in expansionary territory.
The downtick in the index was attributed to softer growth in output and a drop in employment. Notably, new export orders fell at the sharpest rate since January 2017 due to challenging economic conditions, especially in key trading partner Argentina. On a bright note, however, domestic new orders were able to fill this gap and overall new business grew at the fastest rate in five months. Meanwhile, price pressures soared due to a weak real and input cost inflation came in at the highest rate recorded in the survey’s history.