Employment level in the sector broadly unchanged in November, after rising marginally in the prior month.
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The weak demand prevented manufacturers from expanding their workforce. Companies continued to shed workers, albeit at the slowest pace since May.
“The construction sector PMI rose for the second time last month, following a rebound in fixed investment growth in October”, he said. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
The stand-out performer in the region was Japan.
Last month’s reading was still above average for this year, and paints a better picture for manufacturing than recent official data.
The global PMI combines survey data from countries including the US, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russian Federation.
China has recognized that slower growth is on the horizon, and has been working on reforms to allow market forces to play a greater role – in particular driving growth through greater consumption, rather than exports.
ISM said its index of USA factory activity fell to 48.6, the first time the index has been below 50 since November 2012, after reading 50.1 in October.
“The overall contraction reflected four out of the five PMI components with production, new orders, employment and stocks of inputs all declining during the month”.
Unlike the government’s gauge that concentrates on large firms, Caixin’s survey focuses on smaller and medium-sized companies.
“November PMI data point to tepid manufacturing growth across India, with gloomy domestic demand resulting in the weakest expansion in production for 25 months”, Pollyanna De Lima, an economist at Markit, said.
Only moderate downturns were meanwhile seen in South Korea and Vietnam. The rate of inflation was, however, only marginal.
Export data and a private manufacturing survey highlighted persistent downward pressure on South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, from weak external demand, with factory activity shrinking for the ninth straight month. And the official PMI survey also showed signs of continuing improvement in China’s non-manufacturing economy, with sectors such as services and construction expanding faster compared to October, at 52.8 and 58.1 respectively. New export orders expanded at the fastest rate in 13 months, although at a modest pace.
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The euro inched up to $1.0575, nursing losses just above a seven-and-a-half-month low of $1.0557 marked on Monday.
