The Purchasing Managers Index is a monthly survey of business conditions, using identical survey methodology in each country participating in the surveys. Markit produces the Indice des Acheteurs (Purchasing Managers Index) on behalf of the CDAF and Reuters. Each month questionnaires are sent to a panel of 400 companies, selected to accurately reflect the structure of the manufacturing sector. Data are collected relating to: output, new orders, export orders, quantity of goods purchased, input prices, supplier delivery performance, stocks of goods purchased, stocks of finished goods and employment. Several of the above series are combined together to form a single composite indicator of the manufacturing sector - the PMI.A reading of the PMI below 50.0 indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally declining; above 50.0, that it is generally expanding.