Russia Services Activity Continues To Shrink

(RTTNews) - Russia's services sector deteriorated further in May, albeit at a softer pace, as output and new business declined, while inflationary pressures eased, survey data from S&P Global showed Friday.

The seasonally adjusted services Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to 48.5 in May from 44.5 in April. Any reading below 50 suggests contraction in the sector. The rate of contraction was the slowest in three months.

New business decreased for the eighth month in a row, at a slower yet strong pace, apparently hurt by the squeezed purchasing power among customers following hikes in selling prices.

New export orders continued to decline at a sharp rate in May. Foreign client demand contracted at the one of the fastest rates since the series began in September 2014.

Backlogs of works dropped in May and the level of outstanding business declined at the steepest rate in over two years.

The number of workforce decreased at a solid rate and jobs were shed for the sixth month in a row.

Cost burden increased further in May. The rate of input price inflation was the steepest in over twenty years, but eased to the lowest in three months.

Output charges continued to increase in May though the pace of inflation eased to the softest since February.

The outlook for the output growth improved for the coming 12 months in May, but the degree of confidence was below the series average.

Data also showed that composite PMI Output index rose to 48.2 in May from 44.4 in the previous month.