German manufacturing growth accelerates in August as orders surge, PMI shows

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Germany’s manufacturing sector accelerated in August, as a jump in new orders drove ‌the strongest production growth since January 2022, a business ‌survey showed on Tuesday.

• The S&P Global final Purchasing Managers’ Index for ​German manufacturing rose to 54.3 in August from 52.2 in July, slightly above a preliminary reading of 54.1.

• A solid rise in new orders, for the third month in a ‌row, drove the strongest ⁠production growth in more than 4-1/2 years, the data showed. Firms cited defence spending, data ⁠centre build-outs and stockpiling as drivers of demand.

• Supply pressures also intensified: Supplier delivery times lengthened to the greatest extent in ​three ​months, while purchasing activity grew ​at its fastest pace since ‌May 2022 as firms sought to secure inputs amid tight availability.

• Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the upturn was being led by the intermediate goods sector, suggesting growth is still being supported to ‌a degree by safety stockpiling amid ​tight supply conditions.

• “The mood among businesses ​about output in ​the year ahead has improved noticeably and is ‌now the brightest seen since ​the Middle East ​conflict began,” added Smith.

• Employment kept falling, but the pace of job cuts eased for a third month ​and was the ‌weakest since September 2023.

• Backlogs of work increased solidly, ​ending a three-month run of decline.

(Reporting by Miranda ​Murray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: finance.yahoo.com