Services sector output grew at the slowest pace in three months in June, but order books remained healthy despite businesses raising charges at the sharpest pace in almost six years, as per the S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
While the PMI reading slid to 58.5, from May’s 61.2, the pace of growth stayed sharp and surveyed firms’ confidence about future growth prospects rose to the highest level in 2023, S&P Global said.
Job creation expanded as firms sought to meet rising demand. The rate of job creation was the “joint-fastest in six months”.
New export orders grew for the fifth straight month, but slower than in May, while outstanding business volumes expanded at the fastest pace in five months.
Input costs increased but at a slower pace, with 90% of survey participants reporting no change in costs over May. The rest attributed the rise in operating costs to a spike in prices for food and construction material, as well as rising wages.
Consumer services logged the sharpest uptick in new orders, activity levels and employment, while output costs were raised the most by transport, information and communication sectors, where activity levels slowed down since May.
“Demand for services continued to surge higher” in June, said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
