WARSAW (dpa-AFX) - Poland's manufacturing sector contracted for the fourteenth month in a row in December, amid a slower decline in output and new orders, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Thursday.
The manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to 48.0 in December from 46.7 in November. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector. The latest downturn was the slowest since August.
Employment and stocks of purchases contribution weakened in December, which were broadly offset by suppliers' delivery times.
Both the new orders and output declined for the fourteenth month in a row in December, with the rate of contraction easing for the second straight month to the slowest since August.
Foreign demand weakened for the seventh month running and at a steep rate to mark the longest downturn for over a decade.
Employment fell for the sixth month in a row, albeit modestly, and input volumes decreased for the thirteenth successive period. Backlogs of work depleted further, albeit at the slowest rate for over a year.
Input cost inflation rose to the highest in three months, but remained below the survey's long-run trend, while output prices fell for the second time in three months.
The future output index was the fourth-lowest on record, as firms reported subdued forecasts for 2020 due to the economic slowdown and Brexit concerns, the survey showed.
'The sector is enduring one of the longest downturns in the survey's 21-year history with output, new orders, exports and purchasing all declining further in December,' Trevor Balchin, economics director at IHS Markit, said.
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