The manufacturing sector in Europe demonstrated positive signs of recovery during May yet Asian factory production declined substantially because of Chinese market weakness and rising trade tensions.
The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) achieved its highest level in nearly three years by rising to 49.4 during May after starting at 49.0 in April. European factories show signs of recovery according to the data since the PMI indicator remains below 50.0 but indicates positive developments.
The PMI indicator for France reached 49.8 during May which represented its highest value in more than two years while output and new orders approached stability. The industrial powerhouse of Europe faces ongoing difficulties because Germany maintains its PMI reading at 48.3 while other major European economies show improvement.
The euro zone manufacturing sector demonstrates stabilization according to Bernberg’s Salomon Fiedler because France shows positive trends while Germany shows negative trends.
Asia presented a completely different manufacturing outlook during this time. The combination of weak Chinese market demand and President Donald Trump’s changing tariffs policy resulted in factory output reductions for two consecutive months.
The economic situation in Europe shows better results than Asia because European manufacturers maintain better performance despite worldwide economic instability. British factories outside the euro zone experienced consecutive months of decline because tax increases and Trump’s trade policies reduced both orders and employment numbers.
The data demonstrates that European manufacturing shows positive signs while Asian factory production faces an uncertain future.
