Mexico: Manufacturing ends the year on a low
January 2, 2019
Mexico’s manufacturing sector appeared to contract in December. On the one hand, the seasonally-adjusted manufacturing indicator produced by the Mexican Institute of Financial Executives (IMEF) fell from November’s 49.7 points to 49.3 points. As such, the indicator remained below the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector. According to the IMEF, the deterioration was driven by a fall in output and new orders. Employment, as a result, fell.
On the other, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) produced by IHS Markit also remained below the 50-point threshold in December. The manufacturing PMI came in at 49.7 points in December (November: 49.7 points) on a back-to-back decline in output. New orders rose tepidly but were unable to ease firms’ anxieties; business sentiment hit a series-long low amid what appeared to firms as a slowdown.
Mexico Industrial Production Forecast
According to the FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panel, industrial production will increase 1.5% in 2019. The panel of analysts surveyed this month sees industrial production expanding 1.9% in 2020.
Author: Christopher Thomas, Economist
