Mexico: Job losses send manufacturing PMIs lower in May
Operating conditions in the manufacturing sector appeared to stagnate—or worse—halfway through the second quarter. The seasonally-adjusted manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) produced by the Mexican Institute of Financial Executives (IMEF) fell to 49.4 points in May from 52.0 points in April. As such, the indicator dipped below the 50.0-point threshold—and signaled an output- and employment-driven contraction of the manufacturing sector. New orders, for their part, slowed from a month earlier.
Moreover, the manufacturing PMI produced by IHS Markit ticked lower in May; it landed at the 50.0-point threshold (April: 50.1 points), suggesting that operating conditions were unchanged from a month earlier. According to IHS Markit, marginal gains in output and new orders were offset by lower payroll numbers—which contracted at the fastest pace in the survey’s history. Optimism, however, touched a three-month high.