28.05.201907:07:00UTC+00Austria Manufacturing Activity At 50-Month Low

Austria's manufacturing sector contracted at the fastest pace in fifty months in May, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Tuesday.

The UniCredit Bank Austria Manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, fell to 48.3 in May from 49.2 in April.

Any reading below 50 indicates a contraction in the sector.

New orders decreased for the fifth month in a row, but at a slower rate of decline than in the previous month.

Export sales fell for the eighth straight month and at the quickest rate in six-and-a-half-years.

Job creation slowed in May and employment rose slightly. Purchasing activity fell to the worst since March 2015, as firms lowered their output requirements and reduced input stocks.

Purchase price inflation remained soft, as the cost of inputs fell amid reports of excess supply in the market. The rise in price of oil led to the overall rate of cost inflation to increase slightly from April.

Average factory gate prices rose at a faster rate in May to the highest since January.