The Dutch manufacturing downturn worsened in November amid sharper falls in output, new orders, exports, and purchasing, survey data from S&P Global revealed on Thursday.
The Nevi manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index declined to 46.0 in November from 47.9 in October. Any score below 50.0 indicates contraction in the sector.
The latest PMI showed the sharpest downturn since November 2011, excluding the pandemic period, the survey said.
Among components, the decline was more evident in new orders, suppliers' delivery times, and stocks of purchases. New business volume fell at the steepest pace since May 2020,
As a result of the decline in sales, backlogs fell sharply, and supply chains showed further improvements.
Firms lowered their input stocks in November as they had less need for safety stocks due to improved supply chains, fewer new orders, and efforts to cut costs.
Employment rose for the twenty-fifth month running, but the rate of job creation was the slowest since November 2020.
On the price front, input price inflation softened to a 23-month low in November due to reduced demand for inputs. Output price inflation was the slowest in twenty months, although it still remained historically high.
Output expectations in the next twelve months remained subdued in November amid the threat of recession, a winter energy crisis, high inflation, the on-going war in Ukraine, and global uncertainty.
