Russian Services Growth Eases In February

(RTTNews) - The Russian service sector growth eased sharply in February amid a weaker rise in new business, survey results from S&P Global showed on Wednesday.

The services purchasing managers' index, or PMI, dropped to 50.5 in February from 54.6 in January. However, a reading above 50 indicates expansion.

New orders grew at the slowest pace in seven months in February. The overall growth was linked to the sustained upturn in new orders to new client wins and an improvement in demand.

On the price front, input price inflation eased to the weakest since July 2020. Similarly, the pace of inflation in output charges was only modest and the slowest since April 2024.

Meanwhile, employment growth accelerated in February, partly driven by evidence of pressure on capacity at services firms.

The Russian service sector remained confident of a rise in output over the coming 12 months in February amid hopes for stronger demand conditions as the year progresses.

The composite output index dropped to 50.4 in February from 54.7 in January, indicating the slowest rate of expansion in private sector activity in five months.