Manufacturing’s outlook remains robust

Employment in manufacturing posted a significant increase last month, as new orders – mostly from abroad – continued growing.

Data from IHS Markit showed Thursday that the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in manufacturing ended 2019 at 53.9 points, slightly below the 54.1-point reading at end-November.

The figures revealed a further improvement in the sector’s operating conditions in Greece, supported by the constant growth in output and new orders. Therefore manufacturing companies increased employee numbers at the highest rate since April in order to respond to the growth in customer demand, while business confidence remained strong.

Output growth continued in December, but at the slowest monthly rate recorded in 2019. The rise was attributed to the further growth of new orders. All this led to an eight-month high in the employment growth rate in December. The workforce remained sufficient for the timely processing of new orders, while unprocessed works continued to decline.

Output expectations also remained firmly optimistic in December, as manufacturers told the Markit survey that the advent of new clients and the strong customer demand will lead to a rise in output in 2020.