Manufacturing activity remains unchanged from the flash and the consensus in May. At 49.4, the final PMI still suggests that manufacturing industry is contracting. Despite this, the manufacturing output for May is 51.5 the same as April's 37-month high, suggesting accelerated growth and recovery in output.

The best-performing countries were Greece (53.2) and Spain (50.5), where growth was at least positive. France (49.8), Italy (49.2), Netherlands (49.0), Austria (48.4), and Germany (48.3) all saw contractions.

Factory output for the Eurozone shows steady signs of recovery as production increases for the third consecutive month. As demand stabilises, factory job loss slowed down slightly despite its continued downward trend. Input prices fell for the second month in a row. Prices charged decreased as companies offered discounts to their clients for the first time since February. Business optimism rebounded from Aprils lows.

Today's update puts the Eurozone RPI at minus 1 and the RPI-P at minus 1. Overall, economic activity in general is within market expectations.

The call is no revision for the final from the flash at 49.4.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an estimate of manufacturing business activity for the preceding month by using information obtained from a representative sector survey incorporating around 3,000 companies. Results are synthesised into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) activity versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster is activity growing (contracting). Released by S&P Global, national data are included for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, the Republic of Ireland and Greece. These countries together account for an estimated 89 percent of Eurozone manufacturing activity.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the ISM manufacturing index in the U.S. and the S&P Global PMIs elsewhere, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures.

The S&P Global PMI manufacturing data give a detailed look at the manufacturing sector, how busy it is and where things are headed. Since the manufacturing sector is a major source of cyclical variability in the economy, this report has a big influence on the markets. And its sub-indexes provide a picture of orders, output, employment and prices.