Australia's AiG Industry Index recovers in January to -14.9 from -27.3

The Australia Industry Group (AiG) released its latest Industry Index for January, which showed a recovery in Australia's performance but still remains buried deep in contraction territory, printing at -14.9 compared to the previous month's -27.3.

According to AiG:

Australia's AiG Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for January fell to 018.4 versus the previous -11.5, and the Manufacturing PMI as measured by AiG recovered to -12.6 compared to the previous month's -23.8.

About Australia's AiG Industry Index

The AiG Industry Index, released on a monthly basis by the Australian Industry Group, is a leading indicator gauging private-business activity in Australia. This indicator integrates the different sub-indexes calculated by the AiG, including the manufacturing, construction, and services sectors – industries that together account for 36% of the Australian economy. The Australian Industry Index is based on monthly surveys from a national sample of Australian businesses. A positive reading indicates that activity is expanding; negative indicates contraction. The distance from zero indicates the strength of the expansion or decline. A positive reading tends to be a bullish sign for the Australian Dollar (AUD). Meanwhile, a negative reading is seen as bearish for AUD.