German manufacturing growth accelerates in August as orders surge, PMI shows

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Germany's manufacturing sector accelerated in August, as a jump in new orders drove the strongest production growth since January 2022, a business survey showed on Tuesday.

• The S&P Global final Purchasing Managers' Index for German manufacturing rose to 54.3 in August from 52.2 in July, slightly above a preliminary reading of 54.1.

• A solid rise in new orders, for the third month in a row, drove the strongest production growth in more than 4-1/2 years, the data showed. Firms cited defence spending, data centre build-outs and stockpiling as drivers of demand.

• Supply pressures also intensified: Supplier delivery times lengthened to the greatest extent in three months, while purchasing activity grew at its fastest pace since May 2022 as firms sought to secure inputs amid tight availability.

• Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the upturn was being led by the intermediate goods sector, suggesting growth is still being supported to a degree by safety stockpiling amid tight supply conditions.

• "The mood among businesses about output in the year ahead has improved noticeably and is now the brightest seen since the Middle East conflict began," added Smith.

• Employment kept falling, but the pace of job cuts eased for a third month and was the weakest since September 2023.

• Backlogs of work increased solidly, ending a three-month run of decline.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)