Judo Bank Flash PMI sinks anew.
Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index: 48.1 (Feb: 50.6), 3-month low
Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index: 48.2 (Feb: 50.7), 3-month low
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI Output Index: 47.2 (Feb: 49.9), 19-month low
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI: 48.7 (Feb: 50.5), 34-month low
Australian private sector output shrank in March, according to Flash PMI® data. A deterioration in demand conditions led to lower business activity, though cost pressures likewise eased. Workforce capacity continued to expand, however, while firms’ optimism improved at the end of the first quarter.
The Judo Bank Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index* fell from 50.6 in February (final reading) to 48.1 in March. The reading indicated a renewed contraction in private sector activity following February’s improvement. Furthermore, the rate of decline was the fastest since last December.
…New business at Australian service providers deteriorated at the fastest pace since September 2021 as high costs and slowing market conditions weighed on demand. International demand expanded for a third straight month, however.
As a result of the fall in overall demand, workforce expansion was carried out at a slower rate in March while input cost pressures also eased.
Manufacturing output shrank for a fourth straight month on the back of falling new orders. The rate at which new orders contracted was the fastest since August 2021. Anecdotal evidence suggested that higher interest rates and inflationary pressures affected client interest at the end of the first quarter.
