India Services Sector Output Gathers Pace In August

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Thursday, September 3, 2015, 12:10 [IST]

The services sector one of the bright spots of the Indian economy continued to expand and show further improvement in the month of August.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index rose to a five-month high of 52.6 from 52.0 in July.

The uptick in growth was boosted by a quicker expansion of services activity, as the increase in manufacturing production softened in August, a Markit press release on the Nikkei India Composite PMI showed.

Indian services companies indicated that backlogs of work decreased in August, reflecting a general lack of pressure on capacity and efficiency improvements. However, the rate of depletion in outstanding business was fractional overall and little-changed since the previous month.

Outstanding business also fell at manufacturers and, subsequently, across the private sector as a whole.

Commenting on the Indian Services PMI survey data, Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit, which compiles the survey, said: "Economic growth across India was boosted by improvements in the service sector.

While increases in activity and new business across the sector accelerated in August, moderations in growth rates were noted at goods producers.

"The standout feature from the latest PMI data set was the situation of the labour market. Both manufacturers and service providers left payroll numbers unchanged in August, with significant job creation not seen since early 2014."

The increase in the services data can be considered as good news for the country, given the fact the fact that the manufacturing sector has been facing a tough time in the last few quarters.

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