New Delhi: Indian service sector output broadly stabilised in September but remained in the contraction zone as incoming new business fell moderately due to the damaging impact of the pandemic on demand, leading to more job losses, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.
The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose for the fifth straight month in September to 49.8 from 41.8 in August. However, the Indian services sector activity contracted for the seventh successive month in September.
A point above 50 means expansion and a score below that denotes contraction, as per the IHS Markit India Services Purchasing Managersā Index (PMI). The relaxation of lockdown rules in India helped the service sector move towards a recovery in September.
Participants of the PMI survey signalled broadly stable business activity and a much softer decline in new work intakes, said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit. Monitored companies that observed growth commented on the reopening of business units amid the loosening of lockdown rules. While, firms that reported a contraction mentioned the damaging impact of the pandemic on demand. On the job front, the services sector witnessed decline in employment for the seventh month in a row, as per the survey.
Payroll numbers decreased further, but several firms reported that attempts to take on extra workers were hampered by a lack of available labour, Lima said.
Backlogs data suggest hiring efforts will continue in the near term, but, so a better employment trend is expected soon, she added.