Preliminary Aug services PMI 51.4 vs 52.5 in July (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London , 22 Aug - In August, Germany's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector fell to a five-month low of 42.1 from 43.2 in July, according to preliminary data released by S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank.

The manufacturing output index instead rose to 42.9 from 42.5 over the period, reaching a two-month high.

The services sector PMI dropped to 51.4, a five-month low, from 52.5 the previous month.

The composite output index, a weighted average of services PMI and manufacturing output, decreased to 48.5 in August from 49.1 the previous month, falling to a five-month low.

A reading above 50 signals expanding sector activity and a reading below 50 a contraction.

"These numbers are a real mess," commented Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. "The recession in Germany's manufacturing sector deepened in August, with no recovery in sight. In fact, new orders took a sharper dive than last month, mainly due to a significant drop in foreign demand, signalling more trouble ahead. Given this, it's hardly surprising that companies are ramping up staff cuts and slashing inventories of inputs even more aggressively than before.

'The struggles in manufacturing are starting to spill over into the otherwise steady services sector. For the third month in a row, services activity growth has slowed down. New business is barely growing, and backlogs declined once again.

The export side of services, including tourism, isn't offering much support either, shrinking at an even faster rate than in July.".

AAA-Hob

(RADIOCOR) 22-08-24 09:41:40 (0198) 5 NNNN