MT Newswires -Shutterstock
Australia’s business activity slowed down in the last month of the year despite remaining in expansionary territory as the rate of services decelerated.
The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Flash Australia PMI Composite Output Index fell to 51.1 in December from 52.6 in November, with the current reading being the lowest in seven months, according to a Tuesday press release from S&P Global.
On a month-on-month basis, the services PMI business activity slipped to 51 from 52.8, while the manufacturing PMI rose to 52.2 from 51.6.
The rate of new orders was more mitigated compared to the prior month, mainly due to the deceleration in the services rate amid stringent competition.
However, the services industry remained solid as employment rose to meet greater workloads, S&P Global said.
“While the deceleration in the pace of output growth will be worth monitoring, it was positive to see that new orders continued to increase at a solid pace, accompanied by rising business confidence in December,” Jingyi Pan, S&P Global Market Intelligence’s economics associate director, said.
Meanwhile, cost pressures intensified across both the manufacturing and services sectors.