Australia Manufacturing PMI Unchanged In May - Judo Bank

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in May, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6.

That's unchanged from the April reading, and it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Production levels fell for an eighteenth successive month, underpinned by a reduction in new orders. That said, the rate at which output and new orders declined were the slowest in eight and 15 months respectively and marginal overall. New export orders notably rose for the first time since November 2022.

The survey also said the services PMI eased to 53.1 in May from 53.6 in April.

Services new business growth was sustained with rising client interests and a widening of customer bases for Australian service providers. This included new business from abroad, altogether supporting the expansion of services activity and staffing levels in the service sector.

The composite PMI fell to 52.6 in May from 53.0 in April.

Business activity growth was driven primarily by expansions in the service sector, but the pace at which manufacturing output declined also eased for a third straight month to the slowest since September 2023.