(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in September, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 46.7.
That's down from 48.5 in August and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Central to the deepening of the manufacturing sector downturn was a decline in manufacturing new sales. Incoming new orders for Australian manufactured goods fell at the fastest pace recorded outside of the pandemic period, attributed to the adverse impact of elevated interest rates and softening market conditions. This included export orders, which fell strongly amid deteriorating foreign demand conditions.
As a result, manufacturing output also contracted at a pace amongst the sharpest on record while the level of unfinished work also fell sharply in September. Australian manufacturers thereby lowered their staffing levels as workloads were reduced.
