Greece: Manufacturing PMI declines in January but remains well within expansionary terrain
The IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 57.9 in January, down from 59.0 in December 2021. That said, the PMI remained well above the critical 50 threshold, indicating another solid improvement in operating conditions in the manufacturing sector compared to the previous month.
January’s slowdown was chiefly due to a slower, albeit still robust, expansion in output and new orders, as higher selling prices hindered client demand. Similarly, demand from overseas also cooled, with new export orders growing at the slowest pace since July. More positively, however, manufacturers increased their headcounts at the sharpest rate on record, in a bid to cope with still-elevated demand and process their backlogs.
On the price front, persistently high costs for energy, raw materials and transportation led to another increase in input cost inflation, which prompted manufacturers to raise their selling prices in turn.