Manufacturing sector contracts for fourth month in a row: PMI

NEW DELHI: The manufacturing activity in the country shrank for the fourth month in a row in February as operating conditions in the economy remained weak on declining output and new orders.

The headline ABN Amro Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a seasonally adjusted index designed to gauge underlying sector conditions, registered 47.0 in February, pointing to a weakening in the health of the Indian manufacturing industry.

"The headline PMI reading and other co-incident and forward looking survey indicators continue to suggest that the manufacturing sector is in the midst of a contraction and business conditions contraction is getting slower.

However, the pace of contraction is getting slower," ABN Amro NV Senior Economist Gaurav Kapur said.

Morever, the PMI reading marginally improved in February as compared to the previous month, which was 46.7 in January, reflecting a slower contractions in output and employment.

Manufacturers have reported another drop in production during February, mostly blaming it on fewer new orders, the PMI survey, which is compiled by UK-based Markit Group, stated.