Scant Change in U.S.-Eurozone Factory PMI Spread Last Month
May 4, 2015
The differential between the U.S. and Euroland manufacturing purchasing manager indices was negative 0.5 points in April. Such had previously swung from +7.5 in November to -0.7 in March.
The U.S. index printed at 51.5 for a second straight month in spite of increases of 2.2 points in production, 1.7 points in new business and 1.5 points in prices. Jobs fell by 1.7 points on the other hand.
Euroland’s PMI dipped 0.2 points to 52.0. Indices rose by 1.7 points in Austria, 1.5 points in The Netherlands and 0.5 points in Italy but fell by 2.4 points in Greece, 1.0 point in Ireland, 0.8 in France, 0.7 in Germany and 0.1 in Spain. Two eurozone members, Greece and France, had indices below 50, indicating a contraction of manufacturing activity in those economies. Neither was close to 50, with Greece printing at a 22-month low of 46.5 and France at a 2-month low of 48.0. The Irish, Spanish, Italian and German indices — respectively at 55.8, 54.2 53.8 and 52.1 — were all above the U.S. index, however. The euro averaged $1.081 in April, 21.7% weaker than in April 2014. Juxtaposed against much more similar rates of consumer price inflation, the euro’s depreciation has boosted the eurozone’s price competitiveness quite considerably relative to the United States.
| 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 | 52.9 | 51.0 | +1.9 | 1.135 |
| March | 51.5 | 52.2 | -0.7 | 1.083 |
| April | 51.5 | 52.0 | -0.5 | 1.081 |
Copyright 2015, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
ShareThis
