December data shows recovery on track
December data shows recovery on track
The headline Business Activity index was at a strong 57.4 in December, well above November’s reading of 55.2. (A reading above 50 indicates expansion.) The growth of new business, which was flat during the last few months, showed a rise in December and this should be reflected in higher levels of activity in the future. Even more heartening is the expansion in employment. The survey pointed out: “All but one of the monitored services sub-sectors took on additional personnel during the latest survey period. Hotels and restaurants continued to rationalize their workforces, although only slightly." The expansion in activity has led to an increase in prices being charged, with the prices charged sub-index being at its highest level since September 2008. Of course, input price inflation was higher and input prices for services have now increased for the ninth straight month.
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After the second quarter economic growth numbers were released results, the worry was whether the economy could continue to do well as the impact of the drought made itself felt and while the effect of the boost given to consumption by the Sixth Pay Commission arrears payments wore off. The sluggishness in the PMIs for both manufacturing and services for October and November seemed to indicate that the worries were real and the economy was slowly losing momentum. Those fears have been belied by December data. Nevertheless, it’s important not to lose perspective—the pace of expansion still has to get back to pre-Lehman levels. In September 2008 the Services PMI was at 61.2.
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