The final revision to the August Markit PMI
- Prelim was 53.6
- Prior was 50.9
- Full report
This is a disappointment ahead of the ISM data at the top of the hour. It adds some downside risk to the 54.8 consensus estimate.
In the broader context, the improvement continues with the jump to 53.1 from 50.9 still a strong look for the sector.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said:
"The manufacturing upturn gained further ground in August, adding to indications that the third quarter should see a strong rebound in production from the steep decline suffered in the second quarter.
"Encouragingly, new order inflows improved markedly, outpacing production to leave many companies struggling to produce enough goods to meet demand, often due to a lack of operating capacity. Backlogs of uncompleted work consequently rose at the fastest rate since the early months of 2019, encouraging increasing numbers of firms to take on more staff.
"Key to the upturn was a jump in new export orders, which rose at the fastest rate for four years, reflecting improving demand in many foreign markets, and benefiting larger companies in particular. Disappointingly, new orders and export sales at smaller manufacturers continued to fall, highlighting an unbalanced recovery in favour of larger firms."
