China Services PMI Improves To 55.5 In July - Caixin
(RTTNews) - The services sector in China continued to expand in July, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Caixin revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 55.5.
That's up from 54.5 in June, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
July survey data signaled a further recovery in Chinese services activity amid looser pandemic restrictions and the return to more normal business conditions. Notably, the rate of output expansion quickened to a 15-month high as new order intakes also rose at a faster pace. However, the pandemic continued to dampen foreign demand, which fell modestly in July.
Despite the improved trends in output and overall orders, firms cut their staffing levels further, while backlogs fell slightly. Input costs meanwhile rose at a stronger pace, though prices charged increased only slightly. Firms were generally confident that business activity would rise over the next year, with overall sentiment hitting an eight-month high.
The survey also showed that the composite PMI fell to 54.0 in July from 55.3 in June.
Total new order growth meanwhile accelerated slightly on the month but remained modest overall. While service providers saw a solid upturn in sales, manufacturers noted only a marginal rise in new order intakes. Quicker falls in employment across both manufacturing and service sectors led to the fastest reduction in composite employment for 17 months.
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