Eurozone manufacturing sector expands at sedate pace in third quarter

The Eurozone manufacturing sector expanded at a modest pace in the third quarter, official data released on Thursday showed.

Markit said its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell from 52.3 in August to a five-month low of 52.0 in September, in line with the flash estimate published last month and with consensus expectations.

Manufacturing production rose for the 27th consecutive month in September, as companies across the Eurozone increased output on the back of higher new order inflows and a further accumulation of backlogs of work.

Meanwhile, at 52.3, the average PMI level over the third quarter as a whole was unchanged from the one registered in the previous quarter, while the respective averages for the output and new orders indices were slightly higher than in the second quarter.

However, the rates of increase in production and new business were both lower than in the previous.

“Despite unprecedented central bank stimulus and substantial currency depreciation, the Eurozone manufacturing sector is failing to achieve significant growth momentum and even risks stalling again,” said Markit’s chief economist Chris Williamson.

“The pace of expansion has been range-bound since the uplift following the start of QE earlier in the year, remaining disappointingly modest and even slipping to a five-month low in September.”

Among individual countries, Ireland topped the growth table in September and was the only nation alongside Austria to see growth accelerate, while France returned to expansion.