Russia Manufacturing Growth Eases In August

(RTTNews) - Russia's manufacturing sector expanded at the weakest pace in just over a year in August as growth in output and new orders eased, survey results from S&P Global showed on Monday.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, dropped to 52.1 in August from 53.6 in July. Nonetheless, a reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Although output, new orders, and employment grew again, rates of expansion slowed in each case, the agency said. The overall growth in new orders was mainly attributed to better foreign demand.

During August, job creation was also weakened despite a renewed rise in backlogs of work, which was largely caused by longer input delivery periods and a reduction in vendor performance.

On the price front, input price inflation eased to the lowest since February 2023 amid a moderation in some raw material costs. As a result, selling price inflation also softened further.

Looking ahead, firms expressed a lower degree of confidence in the year-ahead outlook for output in August.