Plunged Global Factory Output: Wall Street Journal

Investors and policymakers regard the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI, as a leading indicator of economic activities. PMI above 50.0 implies a rise in activities, offering an optimistic forecast while a reading below that shows economic decline. With the wide spread of COVID-19 around the world and more countries joining the lockdown, PMI witnessed a sharp drop in April. In India, the largest lockdown reduced PMI from 51.8 to 27.4, one of the swiftest reversals from growth to contraction recorded globally. In South Korea, which controlled the spread, the manufacturing sector also contracted owing to reduced demand abroad and difficulties of shipping goods to other countries. The only exception is China, which closed its economy first in February and swiftly contained the coronavirus. In Asia, reduced factory activities pushed the employers to lay off workers at a record pace. However, in Europe, to decrease the unemployment rate, governments cover the wages for furloughed workers as long as companies keep those employees on their books. – YaleGlobal

Plunged Global Factory Output: Wall Street Journal

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index shows sharply contracted factory activities and offers a pessimistic projection for a global economic rebound
Paul Hannon and Tom Fairless
Thursday, May 7, 2020

Read the article from the Wall Street Journal about decline in the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index.

Paul Hannon is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and covers topics related to economics and central banks.

Tom Fairless writes about the European Central Bank from The Wall Street Journal's Frankfurt office. His coverage areas include monetary policy, the European economy and the ECB’s new role overseeing the region's banks.

Year	US	China	India	Germany 2019/11:	51.3	49.3	50.6	42.1; 2019/12	52.6	50.2	51.2	44.1; 2020/01	52.4	50.2	52.7	43.7; 2020/02	51.9	50	55.3	45.3; 2020/03	50.7	35.7	54.5	48; 2020/04	48.5	52	51.8	45.4; 2020/05	36.1	50.8	27.4	34.5

(Source: Investing.com)

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