PMIs Point To A Continued Contraction In Employment

So a marginal beat for the official manufacturing PMI. The breakdown revealed a steady rate of expansion for new orders, a slower rate of deterioration for new export orders, a continued, albeit marginal contraction in the employment metric and a marginal uptick in the rate of expansion surrounding business expectations.

• The non-manufacturing PMI provided a slight miss vs. headlines, but still printed comfortably in expansionary territory, above 54.0. The expansion of the new orders sub-component slowed a touch, while the rate of contraction seen in the employment metric accelerated marginally. The business expectations component edged higher, printing above the 60.0 level.
• Overall, the composite rate of expansion was little changed at 54.1.