2021.07.2810:58:00UTC+00Austria Manufacturing Sector Growth Softens In July

Austria's manufacturing sector growth softened in July as ongoing severe supply bottlenecks caused disruption to production, survey results from IHS Markit showed on Wednesday.

The UniCredit Bank Austria manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 63.9 in July from an all-time high of 67.0 in June. Nonetheless, a score above 50.0 indicates expansion in the sector.

The decline in the headline index was driven largely by an easing of the rate of growth in new orders, which was down from a record high in June to the slowest since February.

Difficulties sourcing materials hindered output levels across a number of industries in July. Both output and new orders increased at slowest rates for five months.

Employment continued to rise sharply amid ongoing efforts to expand capacity.

The ongoing imbalances between supply and demand pushed input cost inflation to a fresh record high in July. Strong underlying demand allowed Austrian manufacturers to pass on part of the burden of higher costs to customers through higher factory gate charges.

July's survey showed a slight easing of manufacturers' optimism towards growth prospects in the coming year. Expectations were still highly positive, but the lowest seen in 2021 so far.