CAPE TOWN: The Standard Bank purchasing managers’ index (PMI), for the entire economy showed that activity in SA’s private sector fell to a one-year low last month, as the pressure of weak demand and high labour costs became more pronounced on businesses.
The PMI fell for the second time in a row to 48.9 last month from 49.2 in June. It was 50.1 in May. Levels below 50 indicate that business conditions have deteriorated. Earlier this week the Barclays manufacturing PMI showed stagnation in the sector last month as it stayed unchanged at 51.4, the same as June.
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci’s) business confidence index also released on Wednesday showed a slight rise last month to 87.9 points from a historic low of 84.6 in June. But at 87.9 the index was still 12 points lower than the average of 100 for 2010 that served as a base year for it.
