Australia CBA PMI Composite rose to 57.9, up from 52.7, highest since April 2017. PMI Services rose to 58.5, up from 53.1, highest on record since the survey began in May 2016. PMI Manufacturing rose to 53.4 in July, up from 51.2.
CBA Head of Australian Economics, Gareth Aird said: “The improvement in growth momentum in July is welcome, but concerns around COVID-19 and the potential policy responses to a lift in the number of new cases continue to weigh on activity. The fall in employment looks a little surprising given some other measures of labour demand have firmed more recently. But encouragingly the acceleration of growth in new orders suggests labour demand should improve. The lack of any inflationary pulse was once again evident. That supports our view that we will be in a low inflation environment for an extended period of time”.
