France manufacturing confirmed to pick up a little in August – PMI data
- France August final manufacturing PMI 51.1 vs 51.5 prelim
- Prior 49.8
This reaffirms a mild rebound in French manufacturing activity in August, bolstered by better production growth. That being said, new orders continued to shrink further and that’s a signal that demand conditions remain rather subdued.
Some added good news at least is that inflationary pressures receded further on the month, even as
suppliers’ delivery times lengthened to a sharper degree. Both
input prices and output charges rose at their slowest rates
since February, but still above levels seen before the US-Iran conflict.
S&P Global notes that:
“On the surface, it’s a much better PMI report for
France’s manufacturing sector, but it’s difficult to draw
much optimism from these figures as the data reveal
still-weak demand, falling business confidence and more
aggressive destocking. This makes August’s renewed
output expansion an unconvincing one.
“Falling inflationary pressures are a positive outcome
considering the step-up in oil prices over the summer.
The disinflationary trend seen in factory gate prices
could provide a much-needed tailwind for order books."
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.