PMI: Manufacturing output contracts

Manufacturing output fell into contractionary territory in April for the first time since June 2020, although service growth held up. Confidence across both services and manufacturers fell. The underlying details of this report are much weaker than the headline numbers suggest. Highlights from the press release below.

• April saw "record increases in both goods and services output prices. Concerns about rising prices and supply shortages, as well as the general economic uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine saw business expectations fall to their lowest in almost two years."
• "At 47.4, the survey's manufacturing output index slipped into sub-50 contraction territory for the first time since June 2020 as goods producers commented on both a drop in demand and constraints on production due to material shortages... April saw manufacturing new orders contract for the first time in nearly two years."
• "Business confidence towards the year-ahead outlook for activity took a further hit in April, dropping for the second month in a row to the lowest since May 2020. Expectations among service firms remained positive but fell to their lowest since October 2020. Manufacturers meanwhile grew increasingly pessimistic about the outlook, reflecting particularly acute concerns about rising prices, supply chain disruption and the general economic uncertainty surrounding the war in Ukraine."