The bad mood in the industry of countries paying in the euro seems to have culminated. This follows from data on the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December last year. This was reported by Reuters with reference to S&P Global.
The situation in European industry
The purchasing managers’ index in the manufacturing industry of the euro area increased to 47.8 in December from 47.1 points in November. Although the index is still below the value of 50 points, which is the boundary between contraction and expansion, it is still positive news.
A more significant increase was recorded in the sub-index, which measures industrial output. While in November of last year it reached a value of 46 points, in December it was only two tenths below 48 points. This sub-index is the highest since last June.
Waking up at the beginning of a new year
“A second consecutive cooling in the pace of decline in industrial production provides some encouragement to start the new year,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. According to him, the outlook is also improving thanks to the gradual consolidation of disrupted supply chains and a certain relaxation of inflationary pressures. “Also, the number of optimists is higher than the number of pessimists, for the first time since last August,” added Williamson.
