In May the Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 48,3 points, from 46,7 in April. Markit made it known. The value is higher than expected (47,8 points) and marks the highest level in the last 15 months, but still remains below the 50 point threshold, which marks the boundary between expansion and contraction. The decline is therefore slowing down, but operating conditions continue to worsen and the current period of contraction has now reached twenty-two consecutive months.
All the PMI indices of the individual countries indicated a contraction in May, but in Germany (49,4 points) recorded the slowest rate of decline since last February, mainly thanks to production and new orders, which increased for the first time in three months.
The most significant change, however, was that of Spain, where the PMI index increased at the fastest rate ever recorded, reaching the highest value in the last two years (48,1 points). Contractions have also slowed down France (46,4 points) e Italy (47,3), recording the best values of the last 13 and four months respectively.
as to Britain, the manufacturing sector grew to its highest level in over a year, thanks to strong growth in new orders, which brought the PMI index to 51,3, more than one point above the consensus of 50,2.
