What are Purchasing Managers’ Indices?
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys on which the EMI is based have become the most closely-watched business surveys in the world, with an unmatched reputation for accurately anticipating official data. They are ‘must-have data’ for economic analysts, financial market players and all other decision-makers that need early indicators of changing economic conditions. In particular, central banks in the European Union and the United States use the data to help make interest rate decisions. The headline figures from the surveys, the “PMIs”, are a weighted combination of survey variables designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of business conditions. The PMI surveys are based on fact, not opinion, and are the first indicators of economic conditions published each month. The data are collected using identical methods in all countries so that international comparisons may be made.
