The Spanish manufacturing sector saw growth slow at the end of the third quarter of 2018, with weaker increases in output, new orders and employment all recorded. This continued the broad trend in recent months of a subdued manufacturing performance. On the price front, the rate of input cost inflation ticked up and remained sharp. Meanwhile, output prices were raised, following the first decline in almost two years in August.

The headline IHS Markit Spain Manufacturing PMI dropped to 51.4 in September, down from 53.0 in August and signalling only a slight monthly improvement in the health of the sector. In fact, the latest strengthening of business conditions was the least marked since August 2016.