Australian Industry Index rose in February but stayed in contraction | Forexlive

This is a new index from the Australian Industry Group. From the AiG description:

• The Australian Industry Index is a monthly index that measures changes in activity in Australia’s industrial sectors.
• It provides diffusion indices which measure rates of changes in the level of industrial activity – expansion, stability or contraction.
• A positive reading indicates the activity is expanding; negative indicates contraction.
• The distance from 0 indicates the strength of the expansion or decline.
• The Australian Industry Index is based on monthly surveys from a national sample of Australian businesses.

The key findings from the February survey:

• Australian industry was broadly stable in February following a difficult new year period.
• New orders surged back into positive territory, and employment continued its steady rise. Activity levels remain in overall contraction but improved on December/January.
• The input price and wages indicators grew rapidly again, indicating broadening inflationary pressures for industry. The sales price indicator fell, and remains below the input and wages measures.
• Capacity utilisation eased to 82.1% but remains above its long-run average (78.3%).