South Africa’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped for the third consecutive month to 56 in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after falling to 57,2 in May, sponsors Investec said on Monday.
The measure of the country’s manufacturing activity was weighed down partly by a drop in inventories while growth in new sales orders also moderated, Investec said in a statement.
The PMI had peaked above 60 in July last year, but fell to 58,9 in August and even further in September to 56,3, before picking up again in October to 59. The PMI had reflected a higher pace of growth in February as it hopped up by 3,1 index points to 60,3 versus 57,2 in January.
A level above 50 points indicates expansion and in December 2006 the index was at 54,8 — a decline of 0,3 points and the lowest in six months at the time.
”The largest detractors were the deceleration in business activity and the drop in inventories, each deducting around 0,7 percentage points from the index,” said Vivienne Taberer, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management. – Reuters, I-Net Bridge