Dubai – Mubasher: The UAE’s non-oil private sector has posted steady growth during September, a recent survey sponsored by Emirates NBD and produced by IHS Markit revealed on Wednesday.
The headline seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit 55.3 in September, up from 55.0 in August, signalling a steady expansion in the non-oil private sector in the third quarter of 2018, according to the survey.
The non-oil private sector reported a robust growth in output in September, as well as improved inflows of new business, the survey showed.
The PMI averaged 55.7 year-to-date, similar to the corresponding period of the year before, Khatija Haque, head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, said.
Employment fell for the second month in a row below the neutral 50-level despite the sharp growth in non-oil firms’ output and new work last month, Haque highlighted.
Staffing at most of the firms remained unchanged in September, but nearly 2% of firms reported a decline in jobs, she said, pointing out that staff costs almost remained the same as well.
She also added that stocks of pre-production inventories rose marginally last month after contracting in August.
“Over the last four months, inventory levels have been unchanged on average, suggesting that firms are either much better at managing their stocks or they are reluctant to build up inventory; ie indicating softer expected demand in the coming months,” Haque commented.
Moreover, input costs levelled up to 51.2 in September, whereas the rate of producer inflation has slowed markedly since January as the value-added tax (VAT) pushed the index up to 57.4, the head of MENA Research noted.
Selling prices were stable in the same month following a drop on average for the past four months, she said.
“Backlogs of work rose again in September – unsurprising given strong output and new work growth with no increase in employment – but at the slowest pace since May,” Haque noted.
“The PMI survey data so far this year suggests to us that the non-oil sector in the UAE is growing at a similar pace to last year, when official statistics showed non-oil GDP growth of 2.5%,” she added.
