SA’s PMI slips to lowest level since 2009
South Africa’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to its lowest level since August 2009 as an 18-week strike in the platinum industry curbed demand, Kagiso Tiso Holdings said yesterday. The seasonally adjusted index fell to 44.3 from 47.4 last month, Kagiso said. The median estimate of four economists was for an increase to 47.8. The PMI data add to evidence of how the strike by 70 000 platinum mineworkers is weighing on the recovery in the economy. The stoppage has led to the biggest quarterly decline in mining production in almost half a century and curbed manufacturing activity. The economy contracted an annualised 0.6 percent in the first quarter, according to Statistics SA. The PMI’s sub-index for employment fell to 37.2 points, its lowest level in five years, from 44.6 a month earlier. This “could imply renewed job losses in the manufacturing sector”, Abdul Davids, the head of research at Kagiso Asset Management, said. The new sales orders gauge increased to 44.8 points from 43.5. – Bloomberg
Household net wealth up 10.1%
On average, South African households’ net wealth increased by 10.1 percent last year, according to the Momentum Unisa Household Wealth report for the fourth quarter of last year, released yesterday. Despite the improvement in household net wealth, local households, on average, remain much poorer than those in developed economies. The ratio of household net wealth to disposable income averaged 333 percent, compared with 739 percent in Japan, 688 percent in Europe and 603 percent in the US. The nominal value of the household net wealth estimate was R7.044 trillion at the end of last year. This is R644 billion higher than the estimate of R6.399 trillion at the end of 2012. – Nompumelelo Magwaza