It was a good sign that the building materials sub-sector has set a scorching pace to the top of the manufacturing table in April and also heartening that the only other sector to experience expanded manufacturing activity was paper, printing and publishing.
The building materials sub-sector was thriving while almost every other sub-sector was being hit by a high dollar and rising energy prices.
The latest Performance of Manufacturing index report (PMI), published by Australian Industry Group and PwC Australia, showed manufacturing activity dropped significantly in April. The PMI index came in at 43.9 – well below the 50.0 level which separates expanding manufacturing activity from contracting activity.
Textiles, basic metals, wood products and furniture had the largest falls.
The employment sub-sector in manufacturing dropped to 46.9 after having been around 50.0 in the previous three months.
On the other hand, news for building and construction could not have been better after many months of decline. The sub-index for construction materials climbed to 64.3 in April, indicating a very strong month. New orders for construction materials also rose strongly in April.
