Russia’s Services PMI rises to 55 in July, Composite at 53.5

MOSCOW, Aug 3 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) grew to 55 in July from 53.8 in June, signaling the sharpest increase in business activity in the service sector for 41 months, while the Composite PMI remained at 53.5, according to a Markit research note published Wednesday.

“After ending the first half of 2016 on a strong footing, Russian service providers carried that momentum into July after experiencing the sharpest increase in business activity for 41 months. The improvement was driven by further new business growth, with the rate of expansion accelerating to the fastest since January 2013,” Samuel Agass, economist at Markit, commented on the survey.

Outstanding business levels stabilized, ending a five-and-a-half-year period of deterioration, leading to the first increase in workforce numbers since February 2014, Markit said. Meanwhile, price pressures intensified further as both input costs and selling prices rose.

Russian service providers continued to report a higher level of new business during July, extending the current sequence of growth to six months, but new orders levels at goods producers returned to contraction territory after expanding in June.

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