The final data provided by HCOB showed that activity in the eurozone manufacturing sector continued to contract in July, as a steeper reduction in new orders led contracts in output and employment to accelerate.
Manufacturing PMI was 45.8 points, unchanged from June. The index remains below 50 points, which indicates a reduction in activity in the sector, since July 2022. Economists had expected the index to drop to 45.6 points. As for the eurozone countries, Germany and France saw their manufacturing PMI values drop to three- and six-month lows, respectively. Greece and Spain also lost growth momentum. The manufacturing PMI growth was recorded only in Italy and Ireland.
HCOB said that the new orders contracted again, while the rate of contraction reached a 3-month high. New export sales also declined markedly in July. Outstanding business volumes were depleted at a sharp and quicker rate in July. In fact, the pace of depletion was the fastest since February. Meanwhile, the rate of decline in employment was the sharpest since December 2023. Lower staffing capacity coincided with a drop in business confidence, the first time since October last year this has been the case. Overall, expectations for output in the coming year slipped to a four-month low. As for the inflationary situation, the rate of input price inflation quickened to a one-and-a-half-year high, while selling prices have been broadly unchanged since June.