The global manufacturing sector ended the opening quarter of the year on a lacklustre footing. At 50.3 in March, the
J.P.Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI – a composite index produced by J.P.Morgan and S&P Global Market Intelligence in association with ISM and IFPSM – was down from 50.6 in February and signalled only a slight improvement in overall operating conditions for the third month in a row.
Four of the PMI sub-components had either a negative or less positive impact on its level. Along with slower growth
of production and new orders, employment and stocks of
purchases fell marginally. Supplier delivery times provided a slightly stronger positive contribution. Global manufacturing output increased for the third successive month in March, although the rate of growth was the weakest during that sequence. Production rose in the consumer and intermediate goods industries but fell for the ninth time in the past ten months in the investment goods category. Trends varied markedly among the major economies. Especially steep – and deepening – downturns were seen in both Japan and the UK. Output also fell into decline in the US after two months of expansion.