Judo Bank / S&P Global November Services PMI comes in at 47.1, improved but still in contraction
- November was 46.0
Composite is 46.9
- November's was 46.2
From the analysis in the report, on inflation and employment:
- “Employment growth has continued to be at odds with a slowing economy through December. The employment index rose to 51.9 over the month, driven by a significant pickup in services sector employment. The index has remained comfortably in positive territory through 2023, and with official readings for job vacancies and advertisements remaining well above pre-pandemic trends, strong employment growth will likely continue through early 2024.
- “Input prices softened through December, partially relieving some businesses of elevated margin pressure. While input price pressures eased, the current index levels for both input and output prices remain well above pre-pandemic levels and are consistent with sticky inflation above the RBA's target range of 2-3%. Index readings for the services sector confirm official data on inflation and service inflation's sticky nature.
'Sticky inflation' argues for the Reserve Bank of Australia to be higher for longer. I posted earlier this week on:
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Earlier this week we had the December manufacturing PMI:
The flash readings from December are here:
