FX.co ★ Austria Manufacturing Growth At 15-Month Low

Austria's manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in April, with slower rises in output, new orders and employment, survey data from S&P Global showed on Wednesday.

The UniCredit Bank Austria manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a 15-month low of 57.9 in April, down from 59.3 in March.

Production grew at the second weakest pace in the past 15 months due to material shortages and pressures on staffing capacity. New orders also rose at a slower pace in April.

Inflationary pressures intensified further. The rate of increase in input costs accelerated to a six-month high. Goods producers increasingly passed on higher costs to customers, resulting in a record increase in factory gate charges.

There was a marked increase in average lead times on inputs and manufacturers continued to report a rapid build-up of stocks of purchases.

By contrast, post-production inventories fell for the first time in seven months in April as businesses had difficulty keeping up with demand.

Although employment increased for the sixteenth month in a row in April, the latest growth was the weakest since March last year.

Lastly, Austrian manufacturers were cautiously optimistic about the year-ahead outlook for output.