February 1, 2016

The Markit/ADACI manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 55.6 in December to 53.2 in January, which marked a four-month low. However, the index remains comfortably above the 50-threshold that separates expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector.



January’s result mainly reflected softer growth rates in new orders and output, with the latter growing at the slowest rate since September 2015. Nevertheless, employment kept growing at a stable and solid pace. Markit/ADACI added that, “January saw a renewed decline in producer prices amid cost savings from falling global commodity prices, which should help to stimulate demand in coming months and ensure that the recovery in the sector remains on track.”

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see fixed investment growing 0.8% in 2016, which is down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month’s estimate. For 2017, the panel expects fixed investment to increase 2.1%.