Aussie flash PMI plunges into the red

Friday 23 October 2026

Via S&P.

Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index: 47.7 Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m % qr/qr (Sep: 51.3)
Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index: 47.8 (Sep: 51.9)
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI: 49.7 (Sep: 49.6)
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI Output Index: 46.5 (Sep: 46.2)

October’s ‘flash’ PMI® data from S&P Global indicated a fresh reduction in Australia’s private sector output. This occurred as new orders growth softened to a near-neutral level, while export demand was also broadly stable. Companies hired extra staff to cope with existing workloads, though job creation was limited to the service sector.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:

$24.99 / month

$249 / year

Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe

About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.