Eurozone PMI manufacturing was finalized at 54.6 in August, unrevised. It’s -0.5 lower than July’s final reading at 55.1. Among the countries, the Netherlands scored 59.1 and hit a 2-month high. Ireland record 57.5 and hit a 7-month high. German PMI manufacturing was revised down by -0.2 to 55.9 and hit a 2-month low. France PMI manufacturing was revised down by -0.2 to 53.5 but still hit a 3 month high. Italy PMI manufacturing dropped to 50.1, down by -1.4 and hit 24-month low.
Commenting on the final Manufacturing PMI data, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said:
“Eurozone factories reported a further solid production gain in August, but prospects dimmed further as growth of new orders hit a two-year low and worries about the outlook deepened.
“The slowdown in demand compared to the surging pace of expansion seen earlier in the year is being driven primarily by export orders rising at the slowest rate for nearly two years. Some of the slowdown in exports can be attributed to the appreciation of the euro since earlier in the year, but companies are also reporting signs of demand cooling and risk aversion intensifying.
“Worries about trade wars and the damaging impact of tariffs, as well as Brexit and other political worries, all contributed to a dampening of business optimism about the year ahead. Business expectations were the second-lowest since November 2015.
“In this environment, it was not surprising to see job creation slip to the lowest for one and-a-half years, albeit remaining relatively robust.
“One positive was a cooling of price pressures, which fed through to the smallest rise in factory selling prices for a year and could help bring consumer inflation down in coming months.”
