Markit says Russia's Services PMI falls to 55.2 in April

MOSCOW, May 6 (PRIME) -- Russia's Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 55.2 in April from 55.8 in March, staying above the 50 no-change mark, which signals an overall expansion of activity in the sector, researcher IHS Markit said in a statement on Thursday.

“April PMI data indicated a further strong expansion in business activity across the Russian service sector, albeit at a slightly softer pace. Nonetheless, new business rose at the steepest rate since August 2020 amid more robust domestic and foreign client demand,” the statement read.

“Although pressure on capacity remained weak, the decline in backlogs of work softened, with firms expanding workforce numbers at the sharpest rate since February 2019. Improved sentiment regarding future output was also recorded, with business expectations rising to the highest for almost two years,” the researcher said.

Economist Sian Jones said as quoted by Markit, “Russian service sector firms signaled further expansions in output and new business in April, with client demand picking up at the start of the second quarter. Stronger international sales growth also supported the upturn.”

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