BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The services sector in China continued to expand in June, but at a slower pace, the latest PMI from HSBC Bank showed on Friday, with a PMI score of 51.8.
That's down from 53.5 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The composite index came in at 50.6, down from 51.2 in the previous month and touching a 13-month low.
'Latest PMI data signaled a further loss of growth momentum in China's economy at the end of the second quarter. In the service sector, business activity, new orders and employment all expanded at slower rates, while optimism towards the business outlook also moderated,' said Markit economist Annabel Fiddes.
The slowdown in services activity growth reflected softer new business gains in June, with service providers signaling the slowest increase in new orders in 11 months. Slower growth of activity and new orders led service sector companies to raise their staff numbers at a weaker rate in June.
Outstanding business at services companies declined modestly in June, which was generally linked by panelists to higher workforce numbers and slower growth of new work. Meanwhile, manufacturers saw backlogs of work increase slightly over the month. At the composite level, unfinished workloads fell fractionally in June.
The rate of input price inflation was only slight and much weaker than the series average. Cost burdens faced by manufacturers meanwhile continued to decline, though the latest reduction in input costs was the slowest since last August. Overall, average input prices fell slightly at the composite level.
Prices charged fell across both the manufacturing and service sectors in June. While manufacturers reduced their selling prices modestly, service providers cut their charges only slightly.
'The persistent underperformance of manufacturers combined with a slowdown in the service sector could prompt the authorities to introduce further stimulus measures to ensure growth momentum improves in the second half of the year - and reach the GDP growth target of around 7 percent,' Fiddes said.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX