Global trade disputes and Brexit-related turmoil continue to affect exporters and now the overall global manufacturing index.
May data signaled the first decline in global manufacturing in more than three years and further declines in new export orders in the manufacturing sector. The drop in new export orders was the ninth in a row as the index held close to the lowest level in three years, according to the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing Index.
The global manufacturing output index fell to the lowest level in more than six-and-a-half years. It declined five tenths of a point to 50.1 - essentially a level of no growth in output.
Significant drags on the manufacturing sector were seen in all components except prices. New orders, employment, suppliers’ delivery times, stocks of purchases, new export orders, stocks of finished goods, quantity of purchases, and backlogs of work were all net drags on growth. The negative pace of new orders globally was the sharpest in 79 months. Employment was negative for the first time in 33 months.
The pace of input price growth slowed for the seventh month, easing by 8.3 points since last fall, to a 33-month low. Meanwhile, the rate of increase in prices factories are charging also reached a 33-month low.
The global outlook was subdued in May. Business optimism dipped further to the weakest point since data on sentiment were first compiled in July 2012.
The global firm purchasing index is compiled by IHS Markit and based on the results of surveys covering tens of thousands of purchasing executives in dozens of countries.
These countries represent about 98 percent of global gross domestic production.
