Russia: Services PMI picks up in September
The IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 50.5 in September from August’s 49.3. Consequently, the index rose above the 50-threshold, signaling an improvement in business conditions from the previous month.
The improvement was chiefly driven by healthier demand conditions at home which reignited new orders growth, thus more than offsetting a downturn in external demand. Moreover, service providers registered a renewed rise in employment in September while business confidence rose to the highest level since May 2019. Less positively, price pressures intensified again at the end of Q3 amid rising fuel and supplier prices. Nevertheless, healthy demand conditions allowed services providers to pass part of the increased cost burdens to clients through price hikes.