Page 43 - RusRPTNov20

new export orders continued to decline.
But given the brouhaha managers remain nervous even if their businesses are still growing. Concerns regarding the longevity the recovery weighed on business confidence, which dropped to a three-month low after a sharp pick up in recent months.
The practical upshot of these nerves was companies were still shedding workers and keeping operations lean. Unemployment has risen from a post-Soviet low of 4.2% last year to 6.4% as of September but seems to have stabilised at this level. Without stronger demand firms are not willing to start hiring new workers for the moment, says Markit.
Inflation remains subdued and the rate of input price inflation was unchanged from August. Firms partially passed on higher costs to clients through a solid rise in selling prices. Inflation was running at 3.6% in August, which is still below the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) target rate of 4% but prices are expected to rise in the autumn, driven by seasonal rising food costs.
Markit also reported that average costs for firms increased at a sharp pace that matched that seen in August and the rate of inflation was the joint-quickest for six months, as firms linked input price rises to greater utility and supplier costs, alongside the unfavourable exchange rate movements.
New business growth was solid overall at the end of the third quarter. Firms continued to note that new client wins and the resumption of operations at customers drove the upturn in new sales, said Markit.
“That said, the rate of increase slowed to a three-month low. New export orders continued to weigh on total sales, with new business from abroad falling for the seventh month running, and at a solid pace,” said Markit.
Companies said they had enough workers to cope with the level of work and backlogs of work continued to decline at a faster pace.
43 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ November 2020 www.intellinews.com