The services sector in Australia continued to expand in February, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 52.8.
That’s down from 56.3 in January, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In line with the trend for services activity, new business rose at a slower but still strong pace in February. This was underpinned by new service launches and growing customer bases, according to comments from service providers. International demand for Australian services also continued to increase, albeit at a more modest rate compared to the start of the year. With new business continuing to increase markedly, Australian service providers hired additional staff to cope with ongoing workloads.
The survey also showed that the composite index slipped to 52.4 in February from 55.7 in January.
Overall new orders and export orders similarly rose at slower rates in February, while optimism levels dropped. That said, employment expanded at a stronger pace as pressure on capacity persisted. Finally, rates of inflation rose in February, driven mainly by higher services inflation.
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