Flash PMI edges over the cliff

Wednesday 20 May 2026

The flash PMI is sickening again.

Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index: 47.8 Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m % qr/qr (Apr: 50.4)
Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index: 47.7 (Apr: 50.7)
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI: 50.2 (Apr: 51.3)
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI Output Index: 48.5 (Apr: 48.5)

Although the Australian private sector economy moved back into contraction mode in May, according to Flash PMI® data by S&P Global, the decline in output was softer than that seen in March. Still, new orders fell at the fastest pace since September 2021, and employment was down for the first time since the end of 2024. Meanwhile, business sentiment was at its joint-weakest on record, as concerns over elevated inflationary pressures lingered.

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About the author

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.