Australia Manufacturing PMI Improves To 50.5 In February - Judo Bank

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Australia moved into expansion territory in February, the latest survey from Judo Bank showed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.5.

That's up from the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion from contraction in January.

Manufacturing output was little changed during February, in part reflective of a slower, and only marginal, fall in new orders. Although firms reported that underlying market demand remained subdued, there were signs of some stability in product markets.

This was especially the case for overseas demand: only a negligible decline in new export orders was registered. That said, given the continued lack of demand growth manufacturers also worked through their backlogs in February. Moreover, the rate at which backlogs were depleted was amongst the fastest in the survey history.