Manufacturing Activity Grew Last Month at a Faster Pace in the U.S. and Euro Area
January 3, 2018
The U.S.-minus-Euroland PMI spread narrowed to -0.9 percentage points in December from -1.9 percentage points in November. The ISM’s U.S. index rose to a 3-month high of 59.7% from 58.2%, and IHS’s Euroland purchasing managers index climbed to a record high of 60.6% from 60.1%. The high export content of manufacturing makes such more sensitive to exchange rate changes than non-manufacturing industries. During calendar 2017, the euro ranged from a low of $1.0341 touched exactly one year ago today to a high on September 8th of $1.2094. The average value of the euro in 2017 was $1.1299. The euro’s December average of $1.1837 was 4.8% stronger than the calendar year mean, and the euro’s closing level on December 29th of $1.2005 was within a penny of the September peak. In light of the upward trend of the euro, it’s somewhat surprising to see Euroland manufacturing somewhat more advantageous vis-a-vis U.S. manufacturing in December 2017 than in December 2016.
A 1.5 percentage point (ppt) rise in the U.S. manufacturing PMI between November and December was powered by increases of 5.4 ppts in orders, 3.5 ppts in prices and 1.9 ppts in production but blunted somewhat by a 2.7 ppt drop in employment growth.
Euroland’s manufacturing PMI went up 0.5 ppts, with France (up 1.1 ppts) and Germany (up 0.8 ppts) improving by more than the euro area mean but Italy (down 0.9 ppts), Spain (-0.3 ppts) and The Netherlands (-0.2 ppts) signaling a slower pace of upward growth.
| Mfg PMIs | U.S. | Euroland | Spread | EUR/USD |
| Jan 2013 | 53.1 | 47.9 | +5.2 | 1.330 |
| February | 53.1 | 47.9 | +5.2 | 1.334 |
| March | 51.5 | 46.8 | +4.7 | 1.295 |
| April | 50.0 | 46.7 | +3.3 | 1.301 |
| May | 50.0 | 48.3 | +1.7 | 1.299 |
| June | 52.5 | 48.8 | +3.7 | 1.319 |
| July | 54.9 | 50.3 | +4.6 | 1.309 |
| August | 56.3 | 51.4 | +4.9 | 1.331 |
| September | 56.0 | 51.1 | +4.9 | 1.335 |
| October | 56.6 | 51.3 | +5.3 | 1.364 |
| November | 57.0 | 51.6 | +5.4 | 1.349 |
| December | 56.5 | 52.7 | +3.8 | 1.370 |
| Jan 2014 | 51.3 | 54.0 | -2.7 | 1.361 |
| February | 54.3 | 53.2 | +1.1 | 1.366 |
| March | 54.4 | 53.0 | +1.4 | 1.380 |
| April | 55.3 | 53.4 | +1.9 | 1.380 |
| May | 55.6 | 52.2 | +3.4 | 1.374 |
| June | 55.7 | 51.8 | +3.9 | 1.360 |
| July | 56.4 | 51.8 | +4.6 | 1.354 |
| August | 58.1 | 50.7 | +7.4 | 1.332 |
| September | 56.1 | 50.3 | +5.8 | 1.290 |
| October | 57.9 | 50.6 | +7.3 | 1.268 |
| November | 57.6 | 50.1 | +7.5 | 1.247 |
| December | 55.1 | 50.6 | +4.5 | 1.232 |
| Jan 2015 | 53.5 | 51.0 | +2.5 | 1.162 |
| February | 53.3 | 51.0 | +2.3 | 1.135 |
| March | 52.3 | 52.2 | +0.1 | 1.083 |
| April | 51.6 | 52.0 | -0.4 | 1.081 |
| May | 53.1 | 52.2 | +0.9 | 1.116 |
| June | 53.1 | 52.5 | +0.6 | 1.123 |
| July | 51.9 | 52.4 | -0.5 | 1.101 |
| August
September October |
51.0
50.0 49.4 |
52.3
52.0 52.3 |
-1.3
-2.0 -2.9 |
1.114
1.123 1.121 |
| November
December Jan 2016 February March April May June July August September October November December Jan 2017 February March April May June July August September October November December |
48.4
48.0 48.2 49.7 51.7 50.7 51.0 52.8 52.8 49.4 51.7 52.0 53.5 54.5 56.0 57.7 57.2 54.8 54.9 57.8 56.3 58.8 60.8 58.7 58.2 59.7 |
52.8
53.2 52.3 51.2 51.6 51.7 51.5 52.8 52.0 51.7 52.6 53.5 53.7 54.9 55.2 55.4 56.2 56.7 57.0 57.4 56.6 57.4 58.1 58.5 60.1 60.6
|
-4.4
-4.8 -4.1 -1.5 +0.1 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 +0.8 -2.3 -0.9 -1.5 -0.2 -0.4 +0.8 +2.3 +1.0 -1.9 -2.1 +0.4 -0.3 +1.4 +2.7 +0.2 -1.9 -0.9 |
1.076
1.090 1.087 1.111 1.114 1.134 1.130 1.124 1.106 1.120 1.121 1.103 1.078 1.054 1.063 1.064 1.069 1.072 1.106 1.124 1.153 1.182 1.191 1.176 1.174 1.184
|
Copyright 2018, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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