MADRID, 2 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The activity of the manufacturing sector in the euro zone contracted again in September for the fifteenth consecutive month when the PMI index stood at 43.4 points, deepening its decline by one tenth compared to August, according to the S survey.
The index was below the neutral level of 50 and at a “pronounced” pace at the end of the third quarter, pointing to “considerable weakness in the sector.” However, it marks a rebound from the 38-month low recorded in July.
However, new orders continued to decline at a rate that has “rarely” been surpassed since records began in 1997.
A significant weakness in exports and a decline in accumulated orders was also observed, which has been the fastest since May 2020. Consequently, as the document revealed, new workforce cuts occurred at the highest rate in almost three years. .
Furthermore, although input costs fell “sharply” again, companies’ efforts to reduce them further were underlined by “sustained” cuts in employment, purchasing activity and inventories.
Meanwhile, there was a “considerable” weakening of business confidence and growth expectations fell to their lowest level in ten months. In an attempt to increase competitiveness and stimulate demand, euro zone manufacturers reduced their sales prices for the fifth consecutive month, and at one of the fastest rates seen since 2009.
“We probably won’t see things improve until the new year arrives, but there are reasons to believe that the stock storage cycle, which is difficult to predict, has bottomed out,” said Cyrus de, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. the blonde
“With the exception of the great recession of 2008/2009, sales prices have never decreased at a faster rate than the current three-month average, and the same is true for input prices,” added De la Rubia. , which has pointed out, even so, that this circumstance makes it “likely” that a rebound will occur.
Among the large economies of the eurozone, Germany (39.6) remained below the neutral level, followed by the Netherlands (43.6) and France (44.4). For the latter two countries, September’s contractions were the fastest in almost three and a half years.
For their part, although Italy (46.8) and Spain (47.7) also registered a worsening of industrial health, their rates of deterioration slowed. In the case of Spain, manufacturing activity deteriorated in September for the sixth consecutive month, although the figure of 46.5 points from August improved.
