MLBKT: the March purchasing manager index indicates slower growth

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 04. 03. 10:42

The seasonally adjusted March value of the purchasing manager index (BMI) fell to 55.3 points from 56.3 in February, according to which the respondents reported slower expansion processes compared to the previous month – the results of its latest monthly survey were announced on Monday by the Hungarian Logistics, Procurement and Inventory Company (MLBKT).

Compared to the previous March values, this year’s value is higher than the long-term average of 52.3 points and exceeds the 54.2 point average of the March values of the previous three years. Since 1995, the March value has been higher than the seasonally adjusted BMI index value measured now in a total of six years.

Among the sub-indices examined in the survey, the MLBKT indicated decreasing sub-indices, except for the index of purchase volume and the index of purchased stocks. Only in one case did the changes exceed five percentage points. The purchased stocks index increased by 3.0 percentage points in the month, indicating a stable increase. The purchasing volume index increased by 1.6 points.
A BMI value above 50 percent indicates an upswing in manufacturing activities, a value below 50 percent indicates a shift in the direction of recession.

The employment index was 2.2 percentage points lower, reaching 50.9 in March, but it has been expanding for the eighteenth month. The index hovered around 50.0 points in the past period as well.