The eurozone’s manufacturing sector took a step closer to stabilisation, January HCOB PMI data showed, with the industrial downturn easing markedly since December.
Contractions in output, new orders, inventories and purchasing activity all slowed, while businesses’ output growth expectations rose to their strongest in close to three years.
Regarding pricing trends, eurozone manufacturers recorded a pick-up in cost pressures for the first time since last August. Prices charged held steady, ending a four-month period of discounting.
The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, a measure of the overall health of eurozone factories compiled by S&P Global, rose from 45.1 in December to an eight-month high of 46.6 in January. Albeit still below the critical 50.0 threshold which separates improvement from deterioration, it signalled the softest decline since May last year.
Data broken down by the eurozone nations where PMI survey data are collected revealed continued growth in Greece and Spain.
That said, rates of expansion cooled from the previous month. France and Germany recorded the joint-lowest Manufacturing PMI prints in January, although the rates of contraction signalled in both instances were noticeably softer than in December. Austria and Italy also posted further (but slower) deteriorations, while the Netherlands saw a fractionally faster decline at the turn of the year.