Manufacturing hits slow lane

The PMI fell to 49.6 in December while core sector output growth was at 4.9% in November

Ahead of Advance Estimates for 2016-17, on which assumptions for the Budget 2017-18 would be based, manufacturing activities showed some signs of weakness due to cash crunch in the wake of demonetisation. While the softness was sharp in the widely-tracked Nikkei Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), it was somewhat moderated in the official data for crucial eight core sector industries. 

Manufacturing activities contracted for the first time in a year, as PMI slipped to 49.6 points in December, down from 52.3 in November. This also marked the biggest month-on-month decline in the index in eight years or since November 2008 when the