Absa PMI records sharp contraction in August

Absa has reported a month-on-month drop of 8.8 points in the seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August to a level of 43.6, which reflects a shift back to contractionary territory in South Africa’s manufacturing sector.

The decline from 52.4 points in July to 43.6 in August underscores the challenges faced by the sector amid high but slowing inflation, elevated borrowing costs and sluggish demand globally and locally.