Purchasing Managers' Index
A diffusion index summarizing company surveys on orders, output, employment and delivery conditions.
Plain languagePractical exampleConnected reading
01
What is it?
A diffusion index summarizing company surveys on orders, output, employment and delivery conditions.
02
Why does it matter?
It can provide an early signal of economic momentum before official output data.
03
How should it be read?
Read the headline with new orders, input prices and the survey's country-specific threshold.
04
Common mistake
Treating a reading above 50 as proof of a precise output increase.
A simple example
A reading of 52 suggests broader improvement but does not directly measure its size.