Eurozone: New rise in manufacturing index in January

Manufacturing activity in the eurozone accelerated last month as bottlenecks in the supply chain narrowed.

Improvement, however, was not evenly distributed in member countries and factories continued to face high inflationary pressures.

The IHS Markit manufacturing index rose to a five-month high of 58.7 points in January from 58 points in December, compared with initial estimates of 59 points.

The index that measures production and is considered a good indicator of economic health, rose to 55.4 points from 53.8 points.

“Eurozone companies appear to be tackling Omicron better than previous waves of the pandemic so far, with companies announcing the biggest production and biggest improvement in order books in four months in January,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist. IHS Markit.

“Improvement is by no means evenly distributed across the eurozone, however, with the resurgence of growth in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria contrasting with the slowdown in Italy, Spain and Greece, and the almost stagnant output. in France”.

Raw material prices continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace than in December, and factories passed on more of that burden to consumers.

Production prices rose to 72.7 from 70.2 points, the second highest level in 20 years.