Purchasing Manager’s Index: UPSC Daily Important Topic | 19 January 2022

Purchasing Manager’s Index

PMI is an indicator of business activity- in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Calculation of PMI

✓ It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception about key business variables as compared with the previous month.

✓ It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.

✓ The latest composite PMI decreased to 49.8 in September 2019 from 52.6 in August 2019.

✓ The PMI is a number from 0 to 100.

✓ PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared to the previous month;

✓ PMI under 50 represents a contraction, and

✓ A reading at 50 indicates no change.

✓ If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month (as is the case mentioned above), it represents that the economy is contracting.

✓ The PMI is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.