The Absa Purchasing Managers Index is weighted so that 50 is regarded as the “neutral” threshold. A measurement of the expectations of business managers, it had plunged to 5.1 in April amid the economic meltdown and uncertainties of the first full month of hard lockdown.
“As a result, both business activity and new sales orders rose in August. The improvement in demand was not only due to South Africa moving to a lower lockdown level, but was also supported by an uptick in export orders,” Absa said. And on the jobs front, the situation remains very bleak, with the employment index — one of six components of the overall index — still far below the others.
That is a massive concern as the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2020 stood at 30% and has unquestionably surged since. Manufacturing remains a key employer and a sector the government has long tried to talk up with limited success.
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