Page 46 - RusRPTFeb19

4.3 Industrial sectors and trade 4.3.1 Producers PMI
Russia’s economy slowed somewhat as the holiday season started with both the IHS Markit Russia manufacturing and services indices slowing in December from previously strong results in November, but remaining above the 50 no-change market, which means the economy continued to expand.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Russia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index– a composite single figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy – registered 51.7 in December, down from 52.6 in November.
This indicator has been closely watched as while services have been growing strongly in 2018, partly driven by the booming e-commerce sector, manufacturing has been doing less well.
Industrial production picked up in 2018 but this sector has been unable to gather any momentum. Industrial product fell from a strong 3.7 in October to 2.4 in November, the latest data available.
The forward looking Markit manufacturing PMI also suggests a cooling of manufacturing at the end of 2018 but nevertheless the latest headline figure was the third-highest in 2018 and brought to a close the strongest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2017.
Service continue to do better, but here too there was a cooling off as the year ended.
The IHS Markit Russia Services Business Activity Index – a single-figure measure designed to track changes in total Russian services activity – posted 54.4 in December, down from 55.6 in November but nonetheless indicating a solid expansion in business activity across the Russian service sector.
The increase in output was attributed to greater new order inflows from both domestic and foreign clients. The final quarterly average for 2018 was the strongest in a year, despite the latest data signaling the slowest rise in
46 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com