Global private sector growth hits new low

Tuesday, 8 November 2011 01:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Global business activity grew in October at the slowest rate since the end of the last global recession in August 2009, thanks to sagging output and new business, according to a new business survey.

JPMorgan’s Global All-Industry Output index, a measure of global private sector activity, fell to 51.4 in October from 52 the previous month.

While marking its 27th month above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction, October was the weakest reading since August 2009 and signalled only a modest increase in economic activity according to the survey.

Cost inflation eased to a 15-month low in October. This mainly reflected the first decline in manufacturing input prices since July 2009.

The Global Services PMI fell to 51.8 in October from September’s 52.6, marking the 27th month of expansion.

However, the index overall fell as growth slowed sharply in the United States to a four-month low, and a weaker expansion was also signalled for the UK.

Service firms saw new business expand in October but at a rate that slipped closer to stagnation, with it slowing to a three-month low in the United States. In Britain it was the weakest reading in 2011.

In Asia, service companies in both China and India saw sagging growth last month.

The index combines survey data from countries including the US, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia.

Private sector activity in the euro zone shrank at its fastest pace in 28 months in October as the debt crisis sapped new business and soured sentiment in an economy looking like it is heading into a slump, survey data released earlier showed.-Reuters