Manufacturing growth slows to 5-month low in March amid weaker demand: PMI

Job generation falls for first time in eight months; GDP growth projection scaled down to 7.3% for FY19

Growth in manufacturing slowed to a five-month low in March, recording the smallest improvement in operating conditions since October 2017, showed the widely-tracked Nikkei purchasing managers’ index (PMI).

The PMI fell to 51 in March from 52.1 in February. A reading above 50 shows expansion. This, coupled with a weak outlook ahead, prompted the compiler of the PMI survey — IHS Markit — to scale down its growth projection from 7.4 per cent to 7.3 per cent for 2018-19. 

The Economic Survey has pegged growth at 7-7.5 per cent for the year, while multilateral agencies have projected it to be 7.2 per