(RTTNews) - The services sector in China continued to expand in June, although at a slower pace, the latest survey from Caixin showed on Wednesday with a service PMI score of 51.2.
That's down from 54.0 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Central to the latest expansion in services activity was rising new business inflows. Incoming new business increased again in June, extending the sequence of growth to one-and-a-half years. Anecdotal evidence suggested that better underlying demand conditions and a widening of the range of services on offer among firms supported the latest expansion in new work. Meanwhile an increase in tourism activity and improvements in overseas business conditions led to another solid rise in export sales. That said, the rates at which new and export business expanded both eased from May.
The survey also showed that the composite index came in with a score of 52.8 in June, down from 54.1 in May.
The rate of growth was solid despite easing from May. Underlying data revealed that output growth accelerated in the manufacturing sector but eased for services. New orders continued to rise in June, albeit at the slowest pace in four months. Meanwhile sentiment deteriorated with firms being the least upbeat in five years. Employment also declined across both manufacturing and service sectors.
