PMI Kina fra Markit:
Operating conditions stagnated across China’s manufacturing sector during August, after a marginal improvement in the previous month. Production and total new orders both rose at slower rates, while export sales continued to decline.
Job shedding meanwhile persisted, though the latest reduction in payrolls was the slowest seen in 2016 to date. This in turn contributed to a further rise in backlogs of work. Price pressures eased, with both input costs and prices charged increasing at weaker rates than seen in July.
The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI™) – a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy – fell from 50.6 in July to the no-change mark of 50.0 in August. This signalled stagnant operating conditions in the latest survey period, following an improvement in the health of the sector in the previous month.
Manufacturing production rose for the second successive month in August, though the rate of expansion waned from July’s two-year high and was moderate. A number of panellists commented that output rose in line with new order growth. Reflective of the trend for production, total new business increased at a softer pace in August, and rose marginally overall. Data indicated that weak foreign demand continued to weigh on total new work, with export sales declining for the ninth month in a row during August (albeit marginally).
There were also reports that relatively subdued market conditions had weighed on overall sales in August. Manufacturers signalled sustained job shedding in August. Although the rate of payroll cuts eased to its weakest in the year to date, it remained marked overall, with a number of firms choosing to lower staffing levels as part of efforts to raise efficiency. Fewer staff and growth in new work contributed to a further rise in the level of outstanding business. That said, the rate of backlog accumulation was slower than seen in the previous month.
