Recovery hopes boosted by easing of manufacturing fall
MANUFACTURING in the Eurozone contracted for a 16th straight month in November, data revealed yesterday, yet the pace of decline eased to its slowest in eight months.
And factories are also suffering outside the single currency, with the manufacturing sector also shrinking in the UK.
Yet British factories’ performances contracted at a much slower rate than expected, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from Markit showed.
The UK’s PMI came in at 49.1, its highest level since August, from October’s downwardly revised 47.3.
In the 17-country Eurozone area, meanwhile, rose to 46.2 in November from October’s 45.4.
All figures below 50 indicate economic contraction, however.
Elsewhere in the world, the manufacturing sector in India grew at its fastest pace in five months, rising to 53.7 in November from 52.9 in October – separate figures from Markit and HSBC suggest.
And in nearby China, the pace of factory expansion climbed for the first time in 13 months, edging up to 50.5 in November from 49.5 – the first time since October 2011 that the survey crossed above 50.