Poland’s manufacturing sector remained in contraction territory for the fifteenth straight month in January, amid declines in output, new orders, purchasing, and employment that was cut at the sharpest rate in over a decade, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Monday.
The manufacturing purchase managers’ index, or PMI fell to 47.4 in January from 48.0 in December. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector. The contraction in the manufacturing sector worsened for a third straight month.
Employment declined at the fastest pace since October 2009, mainly due to falling new orders.
New orders and output fell for the fifteenth consecutive month. The sequence was the longest in nearly seven years in the former and it was the longest in over 17 years in the latter.
Export orders fell for the eighteenth consecutive month and at a steep rate.
The decline in manufacturing output was stabilized at a modest pace, partly facilitated by a depletion of backlogs. Outstanding work at manufacturers decreased for the eighteenth straight month.
Input prices rose at the slowest rates in the past three years, while output prices increased at the fastest pace in five months, and broadly in line with the long-run series average.
Output expectations for the next 12 months strengthened to eight month high in January and the sentiment remained weaker.
“Data on new orders and future output were more encouraging, with the respective indices rising to five-and-eight-month highs,” IHS Markit economics director Trevor Balchin said.
“This could reflect a slowing manufacturing downturn in Germany – by far Poland’s largest export market… Nevertheless, a return to improving business conditions looks some way off.”
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