September 29, 2014

The manufacturing PMI elaborated by Bank Austria deteriorated in September, falling from August’s 50.9 to 47.9. The manufacturing PMI—the result of a survey of over 300 industrial businesses based in Austria—is below the 50 threshold for the first time since July of last year. According to Bank Austria, September’s result is, “indicative of a moderate contraction in Austria’s goods-producing sector.”



Output contracted for the first time since June 2013 and new orders declined at the fastest rate in almost two years. Bank Austria stated that the, “weakening economic environment and lower demand from both domestic and export markets resulted in the declines in output and new work.” Moreover, employment tallied its weakest result of the year.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect gross fixed investment to expand 2.0% in 2014, which is down 0.2 percentage points from last month’s forecast. In 2015, the panel sees investment growth accelerating to 2.9%.