The AiG PMI is out for May and the news at least did not get worse with second derivatives improving on the month. The headline PMI reversed much of its April fall and came in at 43.8 in May:
Impediments noted by manufacturers in May included: continued weakness in housing construction; low levels of business confidence and investment intentions; rising energy costs; the high Australian dollar; public sector spending contractions; fierce competition from imports; flat local demand; and reduced confidence due to the Federal Budget and impending election.
New orders also fell more slowly (though still very quickly):
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
