Manufacturing activity sinks to nine-month low

Manufacturing activity in Australia has reached a nine-month low, according to the latest figures from the Australian Industry Group-PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index. The index fell 1.5 points to 42.4 in May, well below the 50-point level separating expansion from contraction. Only three subsectors managed to record increases in activity – paper, printing and […]

Jaclyn Densley 01 June, 2012

Manufacturing activity in Australia has reached a nine-month low, according to the latest figures from the Australian Industry Group-PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index.

The index fell 1.5 points to 42.4 in May, well below the 50-point level separating expansion from contraction.

Only three subsectors managed to record increases in activity – paper, printing and publishing.

“Nevertheless, these factors were swamped in May by renewed household caution in the face of international and domestic uncertainties and weakness in residential and commercial construction,” AIG chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement.

“The fundamental structural pressures facing non-mining trade-exposed industries such as manufacturing continued to bite.”

This article first appeared on SmartCompany.