Australia PMI Manufacturing rose to 59.9 in May, up from 59.7, hitting another record high since May 2016. PMI Services dropped to 58.2, down from 58.8. PMI Composite also dropped slightly to 58.1, down from 58.9.
Jingyi Pan, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, said: “Australia’s private sector growth eased from April’s survey record. That said, growth remained sharp to affirm the continued improvement in economic conditions following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
“Export orders notably continued to improve, reflecting the robust external demand despite concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in the region. In turn, this filtered through to the labour market with employment improving at the fastest pace in the survey’s five-year history.
“The outlook for activity over the coming year remained optimistic, particularly in the service sector in May. Ongoing supply-chain disruptions, however, continued to impact private sector firms, pushing up input cost inflation and thereby output prices.”
