MOSCOW: Activity in Russia’s services sector surged in December to its highest level in more than four years, the Markit purchasing managers index (PMI) showed on Friday.
The headline PMI rose to 56.5 in December from 54.7 in November, remaining about the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction for the 11th month in a row. The average reading of the PMI index over the last quarter of 2016 was the highest since the first quarter of 2013. “Supported by a faster increase in new business orders, service providers registered a marked rise in output and at a rate that continued to outstrip its historical average,” said Samuel Agass, an economist at Markit.
The survey showed employment in services was close to stabilisation as companies remained optimistic about their future prospects. The business expectations index remained above the 50 mark, although it declined to 58.6 in December from 60.1 in November. Better activity in the services sector supports Moscow’s official stance that the worst of Russia’s economic slump is over and that the economy will return to growth in the foreseeable future. Earlier this week, a separate PMI survey showed Russian manufacturing also expanded in December.
