Australia Services Sector Accelerates In November - S&P Global

(RTTNews) - The services sector in Australia continued to expand in November, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI core of 52.8.

That's up from 52.5 in October and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Central to the latest upturn in services activity was rising new business inflows. According to survey respondents, successful business promotions and stronger underlying demand led to an acceleration of new business growth. The expansion in overall new orders was also supported by rising demand from abroad, as evidenced by the fastest rise in new export business in three-and-a-half years.

As a result of greater new business inflows, services firms raised their staffing levels in November. That said, the rate of job creation was the softest in ten months and only marginal amid reports of challenges sourcing skilled labor.