French manufacturing under pressure as new orders fall-PMI

PARIS (Reuters) – A drop in new orders hit France’s manufacturing sector in June as months of high inflation and global logistics problems hurt demand, a survey showed on Friday.

S&P Global’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell further in June to 51.4, its lowest reading since at the height of the coronavirus pandemic at the end of 2020, but slightly above a 51.0 point flash estimate.

“With growth having slowed to a crawl for the most part since late last year, June survey data showed the French manufacturing sector slipping into contraction territory,” S&P Senior Economist Joe Hayes said.

While a reading slightly above 50 points still points to modest growth expectations, businesses are now becoming concerned about the outlook, Hayes said, adding that a confidence sub-index slid to its worst level in over two years.

Weakening demand and supply problems contributed to the first decrease in goods production in seven months while new orders among surveyed purchasing managers fell at the fastest rate since November 2020 to 46.1, from 50.6 points in May.

“Given the persistently high rates of inflation across Europe, softness in demand is likely to continue,” said S&P economist Hayes.

The French government on Tuesday sharply cut its growth outlook for this year to 2.5% from 4% due to the impact from the Omicron COVID wave at the start of the year and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Susan Fenton)