After the collapse to the lowest value in 12 months of February at 52,2, the index climbs again Pmi Markit on manufacturing in Italy until reaching 53,5 in March, the highest value in 2016. Despite this, the quarterly average was however the lowest since the same period in 2015.
The largest increases were recorded in the month of production, new orders and exports; continues to increase, albeit at a slower rate, employment levels and producer rates, due to steep cost declines, reported the largest contraction since January 2015, according to Markit.
The manufacturing sector in the Eurozone also recovered slightly. Also according to the Markit PMI, the figure rose to 51,6 in March from 51,2 in February and higher than the previous flash estimate of 51,4, indicating a slight strengthening above the threshold of 50 points that acts as a watershed between contraction and expansion.
However, the index is still far from the highest value in twenty months of 53,2, reached at the end of 2015, registering the lowest quarterly average from the first quarter of 2015 of 51,7.
At the regional level, the manufacturing PMIs that reported the most significant rates of expansion were registered in Italy, Netherlands, Austria and Ireland. With the exception of the Greece, which continues to remain at the bottom of the SME ranking, the weakness recorded was concentrated purely on the major economies, France and Germany. The German PMI continues to hover just above the stagnation threshold while France has returned to contraction.
