Australia Manufacturing PMI Picks Up Steam In August - S&P Global

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in August, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 53.0.

That's up from 51.3 in July and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Manufacturing production expanded at a solid rate in August in response to greater inflows of new work. Better underlying demand conditions and rising client interests drove the latest rise in new orders, according to panelists. New export orders also returned to growth for the first time since May, albeit only marginally.

To cope with rising workloads, Australian goods producers hired additional staff on both a full- and part-time basis. The rate of job creation was marginal but nevertheless extended the sequence of jobs growth to six months.