Latest data released by Markit - 4 May 2020
- Prior 45.7
April is expected to be the worst-month for European economies amid the virus outbreak and the latest data here sees a similar story for Spain. A record drop in manufacturing output, new orders, and purchasing with job losses driving a high degree of pessimism.
Another thing to take note is that deflationary pressures were apparent on the month, seen in the falls of both input prices and output charges. Markit notes that:
"Although perhaps unsurprising given the restrictions in place related to non-essential economic activities, the latest PMI data for Spain's manufacturing sector nonetheless laid bare the scale of the economic fallout for goods producers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Records were broken across a number of data points - output, new orders, export trade and purchasing tumbled at unprecedented rates for instance - but perhaps most worrying are developments in confidence and employment.
"Job losses occurred at a rate surpassed only during the heights of the financial crisis as firms signalled notable worries about the longer-term impact of the pandemic on demand. This leads to concerns that when the recovery out of the lockdown begins it may prove to be much more arduous than the hoped-for swift return to pre-crisis activity levels."
