PMI fell to 54.5 in April: Slowdown from high levels
- The PMI fell to 54.5 in April from 55.9 in March. This is the second month in a row that the PMI fell, but developments in the manufacturing sector remain expansionary. The sub-index for new orders contributed the most to the total decrease, followed by the sub-indexes for production and delivery times. Inventories and employment, on the other hand, contributed positively to the PMI. A three-month moving average for April was 56.8, which is 0.8 points lower than the previous average. Individual months should be interpreted with caution.
- The sub-index for production registered 53.6 in April, which was 2.7 points lower than in March. The decrease produced a negative contribution of 0.7 points to the PMI. The sub-index for new orders fell 3.3 points to 54.0 in April, producing a negative contribution of 1.0 point.
- The sub-index for employment rose to 53.6 in April from 52.2 in March. The increase positively contributed 0.3 points to the PMI. The sub-index for suppliers’ delivery times fell 4.4 points, negatively contributing 0.7 points to the PMI.
- The index for prices of commodity and intermediate goods fell to 68.8 in April from 72.9 in March, marking the third consecutive month that the index fell.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is a business cycle indicator for the Swedish economy produced by Swedbank in cooperation with Silf. The PMI is produced for both the manufacturing and service sectors. The aim of the PMI is to get a quick measure of the current state of the economy. Each month purchasing managers are surveyed and an index calculated. An index level above 50 indicates expansion, while a level below 50 signals a contraction. The PMI for the manufacturing sector is published on the first banking day of each month at 8:30 am (CET), while the corresponding index for the service sector is published on the third banking day of each month at 8:30 am (CET).
Next publication of Purchasing Managers’ Index: Friday, 1 June 2018 For more informaton: Oscar Andersson, Swedbank Research, +46 (0)8 700 92 85, oscar.andersson@swedbank.se or Anna Sjöblom, Silf, +46 (0)73 518 70 11, ansj@silf.se
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