PMI 2018

I. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index

In December 2018, China's manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was 49.4 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from last month, and was lower than the threshold, and the pace of manufacturing increase has declined.

Among the five sub-indices composing PMI, the production index and the supplier delivery time index were higher than the threshold. The new orders index, the main raw materials inventory index and the employed person index were lower than the threshold.

The production index was 50.8 percent, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points over last month, but was higher than the threshold, indicating that the pace of manufacturing production kept increased.

The new orders index was 49.7 percent, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points month-on-month, and was lower than the threshold, showing that the manufacturing market demand was decreased.

The main raw materials inventory index was 47.1 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points over last month, and was lower than the threshold, indicating that the decline of manufacturing industry’s main raw material inventory has expanded.

The employed person index was 48.0 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points over last month, lower than the threshold, indicating that the amount of manufacturing enterprises’ labor employment decreased.

Th supplier delivery time index was 50.4 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage points over last month, and was higher than the threshold, indicating that the delivery time of manufacturing raw material suppliers kept accelerating.