Factory slump deepens in May, job cut gathers pace: PMI data

A nationwide lockdown in April, coupled with a crash in export orders, had led to conditions across sectors falling by the biggest margin ever.

India’s manufacturing activity contracted in May due to weak demand and logistic challenges, said the monthly IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’s Index (PMI) survey on Monday. The fall was slightly slower than April's historic contraction. 

Manufacturing PMI stood at just 30.8 in May, marginally up from April's 27.4. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. "The latest reading pointed to another substantial decline in the health of the Indian manufacturing sector, albeit one that was slightly softer than recorded in April," said Markit Economics.

A nationwide lockdown in April, coupled