According to a recent Construction Briefing article, the Hamburg Commercial Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index declined to 45.6 in May from April’s 46.0, with any score under 50 representing a decline in activity. This continues a trend that began in 2022, the last time the index was above 50.
Still, in the face of this seemingly bad news many in the industry continue to report optimism for the coming year. The Construction Briefing magazine article reports the future activity index for Germany has reached a 40-month high and Italy’s index is at a 12-month high. While the outlook in France and Great Britain is less optimistic, the article quoted industry sources who believed the low point in activity may have been passed earlier this year.
Overall, business activity expectations in a recent S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 39 percent positive with only 16 percent reporting a negative outlook.
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