Russian Services Growth Remains Strong In April

(RTTNews) - Russia's service sector activity continued to expand strongly in April, underpinned by further solid growth in new orders, survey results from S&P Global showed on Thursday.

The Services Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, dropped to 55.9 in April from 58.1 in the previous month. However, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The latest upturn in output was nonetheless still sharp overall and the second-fastest since June 2021, the survey said.

New orders rose for the third successive month, in line with a sustained rise in client demand and increased customer referrals. Nonetheless, the rate of growth has softened since March. At the same time, new export orders dropped marginally.

Service providers increased their workforce numbers in response to greater client demand. Further, the rate of job creation accelerated to the fastest rate since June 2021.

On the price front, input price inflation eased to the weakest level since July 2020, while selling prices rose at a faster pace in April to the highest level in four months.

Companies remained optimistic about production expectations in the next twelve months, with the degree of confidence ticking up to the highest since last July.

The composite output index posted 55.1 in April, down from 56.8 in March, as softer upturns were seen at both manufacturers and service providers.