The activity in the Australian services sector continued to expand in July albeit at a weakened pace due to a renewed fall in new business. Export work declined, causing employment growth in the sector to ease, while service providers faced rising cost pressures.
The Judo Bank Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index came in above the neutral 50 mark, to stand at 50.4 in July, compared to the previous month's figure of 51.2, S&P Global said in its report on Monday. The reading signaled the sixth successive monthly expansion in services activity, however, the pace of the expansion was the slowest in the current sequence.
Meanwhile, the composite PMI fell below the neutral 50 mark to land at 49.9 in July, down from 50.7 in June, indicating that the country's private sector output declined for the first time since January, albeit only fractionally.
