MADRID (dpa-AFX) - Spain's manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace since mid-2016 in December, amid economic instability and ongoing weakness in the automobile industry, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Wednesday.
The headline IHS Markit factory Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 51.1 in December from 52.6 in November. The latest reading was the lowest since August 2016.
Any reading above 50 indicate a growth in the sector. The Spanish manufacturing sector has now expanded for more than five years.
Output and new orders continued to rise, but at the slowest rates recorded by the survey in two-and-a-half years.
New export order growth remained solid and maintained its run of monthly gains to over five-and-a-half years. The latest improvement was driven by demand from North and Central America.
Staffing levels continued to rise in December, but the pace of growth was the slowest in the past five years.
On the price front, the input prices rose at the slowest rate since September 2016. Consequently, output prices almost stagnated.
Business confidence strengthened at year end amid positive projections for sales, especially from foreign clients, in the coming 12 months.
'...there is little in the latest survey results to remove the suspicion that growth will remain stuck in a soft-patch during the early part of 2019', IHS Markit economist Paul Smith said.
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