The German auto industry in particular is currently struggling with material shortages.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Despite persistent delivery problems and high inflation, the German economy surprisingly picked up speed in November. The purchasing managers’ index for the private sector rose by 0.8 points to 52.8 points, as the IHS Markit institute announced on Tuesday for its monthly survey of hundreds of companies from the industrial and service sectors. This is the first increase in three declines.
Economists polled by Reuters, however, had expected a decrease to 51.0 points. The barometer is thus still above the growth threshold of 50 points. However, the increase in orders was as weak as it was last in February and new business in exports remained rather subdued.
“Material bottlenecks, higher energy and labor costs, price increases at suppliers and logistics problems led to unprecedented cost inflation in November,” said IHS Markit economist Lewis Cooper. As a result, firms raised their own prices at a record rate.
This in turn had an impact on the business outlook in November. “They were less optimistic than they had been for over a year, as many companies expressed concerns about the pandemic, delivery problems and price pressure.”
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The barometer for industry fell slightly by 0.2 to 57.6 points in October, but it held up better than expected by experts. For service providers, the barometer went up one point to 53.4 points, while experts had expected a further decline.
The euro economy is also picking up
The economy in the entire euro zone also grew surprisingly in November. The purchasing managers’ index for the private sector rose surprisingly by 1.6 to 55.8 points, as IHS Markit announced. Economists, on the other hand, had expected a decrease to 53.2 points.
Despite the unexpectedly good data in November, it seems inevitable that “the euro zone will see a kink in growth in the fourth quarter of 2021,” said IHS Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.
The barometer for service providers alone rose by two points to 56.6 points in November. The industry index climbed 0.3 to 58.6 points.
More: Wieland calls for a turnaround in monetary policy by the ECB: “General price level is rising” – Fratzscher: “It’s not that simple