Australia Markit manufacturing PMI for April

  • prelim was 59.6
  • prior 56.8

59.7 is the highest since the survey began in May 2016. Highlights from the report:

  • conditions have now improved in 11 straight months
  • New order growth at a fresh survey high
  • output rising at a pace only just shy of the record seen in December 2016
  • Suppliers' delivery times continued to lengthen at a severe rate in April, although the instances of delays moderated slightly and were the least pronounced since July last year. Supply chain constraints coupled with the increase in demand led to the sharpest rise in backlogs of work since December 2017. As a result of supply constraints, firms continued to preemptively build up safety stocks
  • input price inflation accelerating to the highest on record
  • Sharply rising input costs pushed firms to continue passing these on to customers, leading selling price inflation to similarly rise to the highest since at least May 2016.
  • Positive projections for sales and activity also contributed to better employment conditions as firms made further efforts to rebuild operating capacity. Moreover, the rate of job creation was the fastest in the five-year series history.

I bolded the parts directly relevant to inflation and employment.