Global sector PMI™ data from Markit showed consumer-facing services bucking a general trend of slower growth in April. Among the 21 sectors to record growth, 15 indicated weaker rates of expansion in April.
Beverages firms registered the strongest rise in output of all sectors monitored. In contrast, food production rose at a significantly weaker rate than in March. The insurance and telecoms sectors both registered strong rates of growth in the latest period, while output in the metals & mining sector continued to fall.
Having led the global sector rankings in February and March, global food producers registered a much slower rise in output in April, falling to fourteenth place in the table. Other sectors to drop down the rankings were construction materials and technology equipment, down eight and ten places since March respectively.
The biggest mover in the other direction was media, climbing 18 places in the growth table in April and ranked fourth overall with the sharpest rise in business activity since December 2013. Similarly, tourism & recreation gained 14 rankings since March, in fifth place overall with the fastest activity growth since August 2013.
The bottom-six sectors in April were all manufacturing-related. Metals & mining registered a third successive monthly drop in output, while technology equipment was the only other sector to post a decline. Construction materials, forestry & paper products, automobiles & auto parts and chemicals all registered modest rates of output growth in April.
Detailed sectors
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