Kinesisk PMI fra Caixin – læs hele meddelelsen her:
Chinese manufacturers signalled a modest deterioration in operating conditions at the start of 2016, with both output and employment declining at slightly faster rates than in December. Total new business meanwhile fell at the weakest rate in seven months, and despite a faster decline in new export work.
Nonetheless, lower production requirements led companies to cut back on their purchasing activity and inventories of inputs. On the prices front, both input costs and output charges fell again in January, though at the weakest rates in seven months. At 48.4 in January, the seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI™) – a composite indicator designed to provide a singlefigure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy – remained below the crucial 50.0 value separating growth from contraction for the eleventh successive month.
The reading was up slightly from 48.2 in December, and signalled a further modest deterioration in the overall health of China’s manufacturing sector. Production at Chinese goods producers fell for the second successive month in January. Though modest, the rate of contraction was the fastest seen in four months. According to panellists, relatively weak market conditions and fewer new orders had led firms to cut production.
This was highlighted by a further fall in total new business placed at Chinese manufacturers at the start of 2016. That said, the rate of contraction was the slowest seen in seven months, despite a quicker decline in new export work. Latest data signalled a further decline in Chinese manufacturing employment, with the rate of job shedding quickening to a four-month record in January.
Panellists that registered lower staff numbers generally attributed this to company down-sizing policies and the nonreplacement of voluntary leavers as workloads were insufficient. Meanwhile, backlogs of work increased for the ninth month in a row in January, albeit only slightly.
