September 6, 2018
The Australian PMI has indicated positive conditions (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase) for 23 consecutive months – the longest run of recovery or expansion since 2005. All seven activity sub-indexes in the Australian PMI expanded in August. Six of the seven sub-indexes accelerated, with only inventories decelerating (down 3.6 points to 51.1). New orders grew strongly (up 8.5 points to 59.6) while exports, lower than the other activity sub-indexes over the past year, jumped 8.5 points to 58.4. The input prices sub-index jumped 9.3 points to 77.4, its highest result since March 2011, while wages also continued to rise (up 4.1 points to a record high of 64.7). In response, the selling prices sub-index rose by 5.1 points to 58.1 – the highest result for this sub-index since April 2017. “The Australian PMI rebounded in August on the cusp of two years of uninterrupted expansion,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “The manufacturing sector has…