Factory growth picks up 6-month high, hiring still sluggish

摘要

In a smart recovery, the manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in six months in July on increased export order flows but hiring remained sluggish, a monthly survey showed of late. The data came a day before RBI's scheduled monetary policy review meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to keep its policy rates unchanged. However, some analysts including those at Moody's Analytics expect a rate cut as a sustained recovery is yet to be seen in manufacturing sector. The Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI - a composite indicator of manufacturing sector performance - rose to 52.7 in July from 51.3 in June, logging a six-month high, indicating an improvement in business conditions. As per the survey, growth of new export business orders accelerated in July to reach its highest level in five months. However, the outstanding business orders got accumulated for the second month running. "Growth in India's manufacturing economy rebounded in July, with PMI rising since the prior month. This reflects stronger increases of new orders and output. Furthermore, the sector was boosted by the quickest expansion in export orders since February," said Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at Markit, which compiles the data. Despite the uptick in growth, manufacturers continued to cut down workforce in July. Around 96 per cent of respondents reported no change in staff strength from the levels in the prior month.