Why does it matter?
Amidst ongoing deindustrialisation and recent added uncertainty – globally due to US tariffs and domestically due to political and Budget uncertainty – declines in the PMI are unsurprising.

The impact of this heightened uncertainty was also seen in declining sentiment, as reflected in the ‘expected business conditions’ index, which ticked below the 50-neutral mark for the first time since November 2023 (48.6 points in April from 58.0 points in March).