Markit: Russia’s Services PMI rises to 56.3 points in May

MOSCOW, Jun 5 (PRIME) --  Russia’s Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 56.3 points in May from 56.1 points in April, researcher IHS Markit said in a report on Monday.

“Business activity in the Russian service sector continued to grow in May. The level of output increased for the sixteenth consecutive month, with data for 2017 so far signaling strong growth. New orders also expanded at a robust pace,” the report read.

“On the price front, output charges rose at the fastest rate since September 2015 as firms passed on higher input costs to clients. The pace at which input prices rose softened from April and was below the long-run trend level. Employment in the sector increased at the fastest rate since May 2013,” the researcher said.

Average prices charged by service providers in Russia increased in May. “This extended the current sequence of inflation which began in December 2009. The pace of increase accelerated from April to the fastest since September 2015,” Markit said.

“The latest rise in staffing levels among Russian service providers was the strongest since May 2013. The current period of expanding workforces was extended to five months, the longest sequence of job creation in nearly four years,” the report read.

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