Preliminary was 51.2

  • & prior 52.7

51.5 in September is the lowest for 7 months. Meanwhile, input prices rose at the fastest pace since September 2008.

Says the Markit commentary (in brief):

  • Supply chain disruption continued to dampen activity and demand
  • Firms noted a sharp deterioration in vendor performance as supplier delivery times lengthened to the greatest extent since April 2011
  • Positively, external markets reversed the decline seen in August to return to expansion territory, although the rate of growth was only mild

more to come