Austria's manufacturing activity contracted notably at the end of the year as output fell the most in five months, survey results from S&P Global showed on Thursday. The UniCredit Bank Austria Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 42.0 in December from an eight-month high of 42.2 in November.
Both output and employment sub-indices imparted downward pressure, while new orders, stocks of purchases and supplier delivery times had an upward influence.
Output declined at the fastest pace since July. Manufacturers scaled back production due to weaker demand.
The rate of decline in new orders eased further from September's recent record to the weakest in nine months. This partly reflected a reduced drag from falling export orders, which logged the deepest decrease since July 2022.
Manufacturers depleted backlogs of work in December and the rate of decline eased to the slowest in seven months.
Manufacturers reduced employment at the quickest pace in three months. There was a reduction in manufacturers' purchasing activity, reflecting lower output requirements and associated efforts to scale down inventories.
Lower demand for inputs in turn led to an improvement in supplier delivery times and downward pressure on purchasing costs.
The reduction in output prices moderated in December, the survey showed. The decline in factory gate charges decreased at the weakest pace since April.
Further, manufacturers remained downbeat about the year-ahead outlook. However, sentiment improved further to a ten-month low.
