The global manufacturing sector showed only a slight improvement in March, with the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registering 50.3, down slightly from 50.6 in February.
This marks the third consecutive month of marginal growth in operating conditions. The index, which is a composite of various economic data, is produced by JP Morgan and S&P Global Market Intelligence in association with ISM and IFPSM.
Several factors contributed to the modest rise, including slower growth in production and new orders, alongside a small decline in employment and stocks of purchases.
On a positive note, supplier delivery times offered some support to the index. Global manufacturing output continued to expand for the third month in a row, but the rate of growth was the weakest in this sequence.
Output increased in the consumer and intermediate goods industries, while production in the investment goods sector fell for the ninth time in the past ten months.
The trends varied significantly across major economies. Japan and the UK experienced particularly steep downturns, with output in the US also declining after two months of growth.
However, the euro area saw a rise in factory output for the first time in two years, thanks to stronger domestic demand.
Production in mainland China hit a four-month high, with growth also seen in India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan.
New order growth remained subdued in March, with the rate of increase showing only mild improvement throughout the first quarter of the year.
International trade volumes stabilised, with new export work rising slightly after nine consecutive months of decline.
This uptick was driven by China, India, Brazil, and, to a lesser extent, the US, while export business in the euro area, Japan, and the UK continued to decline.
Rising geopolitical tensions, high costs, and concerns over potential disruptions to world trade from tariffs all contributed to a dip in business optimism.
Data also showed that confidence fell to a three-month low, affecting the consumer, intermediate, and investment goods sectors.
This reduction in optimism was a key factor behind the eighth consecutive month of declining global manufacturing employment, with job losses particularly noticeable in the euro area and the UK.
These losses were partially offset by job gains in mainland China and Japan, while staffing levels in the US showed no change.
In terms of costs, March saw a rise in average input prices, close to the two-year high recorded in February.
Some of these increased costs were passed on to consumers in the form of higher selling prices, which saw their largest increase since June 2024.
