Australia Manufacturing PMI Improves To 49.8 In January - S&P Global

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in January, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.8.

That's up from 47.8 in December, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Also, the services PMI slipped to 50.4 from 50.8 in December, while the composite PMI rose to a five-month high of 50.3 from 50.2 in the previous month.

Business activity growth was again limited to the service sector, though the rate at which services activity rose eased to a six-month low. Meanwhile, manufacturing output stabilized after falling continuously since December 2022.

Anecdotal evidence suggested that while some manufacturers continued to lower output in line with the trend for goods orders, others started to see a turnaround in manufacturing sector conditions.