The service sector PMI edged down to 53.3 in September from 53.7 in August. This was roughly in line with our expectations.
The service PMI has been very volatile during the last year and is therefore somewhat tricky to interpret. But the PMI has now been well above the 50-mark for three consecutive months. Coupled with the improvement seen in the NIER´s confidence indicators for the service sector, it seems like growth in is gearing up in the sector. With the uptick in the manufacturing PMI, it finally seems like GDP growth is finding some traction.
The uptick in new orders to 54.0 as well as order books to 52.7 is encouraging, suggesting that the service PMI may stay at decent levels also in the coming months. The sub-index for employment fell somewhat to 52.4. Thus, demand for labour is increasing, albeit only gradually.
Details September:
Service sector PMI: 53.3 (prior 53.7)
Employment: 52.4 (prior 53.4)
New orders: 54.0 (prior 51.4)
Order books: 52.7 (prior 50.9)
Business volume: 55.4 (prior 55.8)
Planned business volume: 62.7 (prior 62.1)
Nordea