Ireland’s manufacturing sector may be showing signs of heading towards improvement after witnessing the steepest contraction in the month of April. The AIB IHS Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 39.2 during May from 36 in April as the country lifted some of the lockdown measures over the past few weeks.

However, the sector continues to remain in contraction with the reading coming in below the 50-threshold. On a positive note, however, Irish manufacturers are more upbeat about the future outlook, with more firms anticipating growth instead of contraction in a year from now.

Output, new orders and employment improved in May but remained on the decline amid weak demand as the world remained in lockdown. Meanwhile, average input prices also declined for the third consecutive month in May on the back of low demand for inputs and weak crude oil prices.

According to Oliver Mangan, AIB Chief Economist, “The Irish data are in line with global trends. The indices should continue to move higher as lockdown restrictions are eased and economic activity picks up again.”