Services uptick
1 min read . Updated: 05 Dec 2022, 10:06 PM IST
PremiumNot only do services contribute the bulk of our gross domestic product, but their revival could also play the job-generation role
India’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the services sector climbed to 56.4 in November from 55.1 in October, as the latest reading of a private-sector survey showed on Monday. A figure above 50 implies an expansion, and this data represents the fastest growth in three months. The survey also reports its first upturn in new business received from abroad since the onset of covid in early 2020. Even though this uptick was mild, a return of overseas orders is significant, for it suggests the sector is finally putting the pandemic behind it. Interestingly, unlike the manufacturing PMI, which also posted a healthy expansion in November but was at odds with India’s most recent national income data, the services index is in sync with the sector’s recovery tracked by government statistics. This should allow us to heave a sigh of relief. Not only do services contribute the bulk of our gross domestic product, but their revival could also play the job-generation role that manufacturing has been too unsteady so far to perform satisfactorily. True, operating costs have risen for service businesses. Inflation remains a big worry. But we need services to hire in large numbers and help boost Indian consumption.
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