The manufacturing sector rate in the Eurozone recorded a small increase at the beginning of 2015. According to data collected by MarkitEconomics between January 12 and 23, thePMI manufacturing sector index in the Eurozone stood at 51 in January, a value slightly higher than the 50,6 that was recorded in December. Contributing to the acceleration in January were productions in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland.
'SItaly this is the first production improvement since September 2014 to date. L'seasonally adjusted PMI index Markit/Adaci on manufacturing production in Italy stood at 49,9, the highest value in four months and a sharp rise compared to 48,4 in December which was the lowest value in nineteen months. Each of the sub-indexes of the PMI contributed positively, with the major influence coming from the index of production and employment levels.
German manufacturing production remains expanding in January (above the 50 threshold), extending the continuous growth to 21 months even if the rate of expansion remained below the average of the long-term series. In fact, surprisingly, Germany's PMI manufacturing index dropped by one decimal place from 51 to 50,9, while in France the sector remains in contraction, with the index down to 49,2 points from 49,5.
