Irish manufacturing activity suffered its sharpest monthly decline on record in April as output collapsed - as in much of Europe - in the face of the new coronavirus, a survey showed on Friday.
The AIB IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 36.0 from 45.1 in March, far below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction and the third-weakest reading on record, following deeper declines in February and March 2009 when Ireland was on its way towards an international bailout.
Output, new orders, exports and purchasing all contracted at the fastest rates in the survey’s 22-year history, although the outright drop in the new orders reading was smaller than it was the previous month. “The data for April paint a bleak picture of the impact on the sector of the lockdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic,” AIB Chief Economist Oliver Mangan said in a statement.
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