Russian manufacturing shrinks for fourth straight month in March - PMI
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian manufacturing activity shrank for the fourth straight month in March, and at a faster pace than in February, the HSBC purchasing managers' index showed on Wednesday.
The March headline PMI reading fell to 48.1 from 49.7 the previous month, further below the 50.0 mark that separates expansion from contraction.
The index was dragged down by modest declines in output and new business. Employment also fell albeit at a weaker rate than previously, while the pace of input and output inflation slowed.
Paul Smith, senior economist at Markit, said that while the data pointed to challenging operating conditions in the manufacturing sector, there were hopes for stabilisation later in the year.
"Some panellists indicated positive growth projections and in a number of cases added to their workforces," he said. "With inflation falling back sharply over the month, there is hope of at least near-term stability."
Data from the state statistics office showed manufacturing output contracted in January and February, and economists are pessimistic on Russia's economic outlook.
The PMI also showed Russian manufacturers continued to run down their stocks of finished goods, while their backlogs of work also dropped. New export orders were at their weakest since July.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
