Food leads sector rankings

Sector PMI" data from Markit signalled a further marked rise in global food production in March. The sector remained at the top of the global rankings for a second successive month, with the rate of growth reaching a record high. Furthermore, growth of new orders also hit the highest since the series began in late-2009. The record rise in food production occurred despite the sector seeing only a marginal gain in employment, suggesting that producers continued to achieve impressive productivity gains.

The March gain meant food manufacturers also topped the global sector rankings over the first quarter of 2015 as a whole, followed by beverages firms.

Global Sector PMI summary

Metals & mining stuck at foot of rankings

Metals & mining remained the worst-performing sector in terms of output in March. Production fell at the strongest rate since May 2013, and the sector has now sat in the bottom three rankings throughout the past eight months.

Other sectors in the basic materials group also fared relatively poorly in March, with forestry & paper products posting a slight fall in output and chemicals producers recording only a modest rate of expansion. Basic materials has been the bottom-ranked group 11 times in the past 13 months.

Global Basic Materials PMI

Biggest movers

Commercial & professional services registered the third-fastest rate of activity growth in March, rising ten places in the sector league table, more than any other sector during the month. Construction materials rose nine places since February, with the fastest rate of output growth since last September.

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