Israel: Manufacturing PMI falls sharply in February
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), produced by Bank Hapoalim and the Israeli Purchasing & Logistics Managers Association (IPLMA), fell from 50.1 in January to 45.3 in February, moving below the neutral 50-mark separating expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector.
The fall in the headline figure was driven chiefly by lower domestic demand, while external demand contracted at a softer pace. As Bank Hapoalim economists stressed, February’s reading does not take into account recent stringent social distancing measures, and as such a further decline in the PMI is highly likely going forward.