The German manufacturing sector entered the second quarter of 2017 in a high gear, according the latest PMI survey data from IHS Markit and BME. Overall operating conditions improved at a pace that almost matched the near six-year record set in March as output, new orders and employment all continued to grow at historically sharp rates. Cost pressures continued to intensify, however, with the rate of input price inflation accelerating for a survey-record ninth consecutive month to the highest since May 2011.

The PMI registered 58.2 in April, little-changed from March's 58.3 and indicative of a further sharp improvement in manufacturing business conditions in Germany. The downward tick in the PMI reflected slightly weaker growth rates for output, new orders and employment as well as a contraction in stocks of purchases, although these trends were almost wholly offset by the greatest lengthening in suppliers' delivery times in six years. The current 29-month period of overall growth in the goodsproducing sector is the second-longest in the 21- year survey history