According to Markit, growth in the Spanish manufacturing sector remained muted in August. The health of the sector improved slightly as the rate of expansion in production eased. However, new orders returned to growth following a fall in July. With improvements in demand only modest, firms reduced the pace at which they took on extra staff. Meanwhile, inflationary pressures remained muted.

The headline Markit Spain Manufacturing PMI is a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance. It is derived from indicators for new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchases. Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement of the sector.

The PMI was unchanged at 51.0 in August, signalling a marginal improvement in business conditions for Spanish manufacturers, and one that was the same strength as July's 31-month low.