BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The services sector in China continued to expand in December, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Caixin revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 53.1.
That's up from 52.1 in November, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Improved sales and efforts to increase capacity led to a further rise in staffing levels. Nonetheless, backlogs of work continued to increase and at the quickest rate for nearly two years. Cost pressures eased, with both input costs and output charges rising at weaker rates. However, uncertainty over the pandemic weighed on business confidence regarding the year ahead, with sentiment slipping to a 15-month low in December.
The survey also showed that the composite index improved to 53.0 in December from 51.2 in November.
Output has now risen in each of the past four months, with the latest increase the quickest since July. Detailed data highlighted stronger rates of output growth across both manufacturing and service sectors at the end of the year.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News
