Italian Manuf PMI Shows Surge In Demand And Rising Price Pressures

Italian Manufacturing PMI came in exactly in line with expectations at 59.8 (59.8 survey, 56.9 prior). The IHS Markit report identifies the drivers of the improvement as output and new orders, each of which rose at the quickest rates for more than three years "amid reports of a further surge in client demand".

• The report identifies positive trends for employment and confidence: "firms took on additional staff at a sharper pace, while the year-ahead outlook for output remained robust".
• But as part of a broader theme in European manufacturing, supply bottlenecks are putting upside pressure on prices: "average cost burdens facing Italian goods producers rose again, with the latest uptick the steepest for nearly ten years. Greater raw material costs, price hikes at suppliers and rising transportation fees drove the latest round of cost inflation, according to anecdotal evidence. In response, firms again upped their average charges in March. The rate of inflation was the most marked for a decade"