Australia CBA PMI Manufacturing rose to 56.0 in December, up from 55.8, hitting a 36-month high. PMI Services rose to 57.4, up from 55.1, a 7-month high. PMI Composite rose to 57.0, up from 54.9, a 5-month high.
Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, said: “Not only was the Australian economic recovery sustained in December, but growth also gathered momentum as the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions underpinned further improvements in demand for goods and services…. Both goods producers and service providers continued to hire extra staff, the former to the greatest extent in close to three years… Private sector companies were at their most optimistic in over two years…One area that failed to improve was exports… The latest fall in international sales was the eleventh in successive months.”