You are here:
- Newsroom >
- Purchasing Managers' Index - Services, January 2012
Purchasing Managers' Index - Services, January 2012
08-02-2012 10:06
Services PMI rises to 54.3 in January: business conditions in the service sector are improving
In January 2012 the purchasing managers’ index for services (Services PMI) rose by 3.3 points to 54.3, up from 51.0 in December. This is the largest increase since July 2010. This indicates that the downturn that service companies experienced in the fall has turned around and a recovery is under way, although figures for a single month should be interpreted with some caution.
All of the Services PMI’s component indices rose in January. New orders made the largest positive contribution to the rise in the PMI, followed by business activity, employment and supplier delivery times. Order backlogs also rose and are now back in the growth zone, after remaining beneath the 50 mark for five consecutive months.
Business plans for the next half year have been revised upward, indicating that companies have become more optimistic about the economic outlook. The improved order scenario is yet another contributing factor to the more expansive plans.
The index for supplier intermediate goods prices rose from 54.3 in December to 55.0 in January, signaling that service companies are experiencing a modest cost increase.
