SINGAPORE, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's private sector growth slowed to a five-month low in October, although business activity continued to expand at a robust pace amid strong demand, according to the latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data released Wednesday by S&P Global.
The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Singapore PMI, a composite indicator of private sector performance, fell to 56.7 in October from 58.1 in September, but remained above the 50 no-change threshold for the 21st consecutive month, S&P said in a statement.
"The latest S&P Global Singapore PMI data revealed that business conditions continued to improve at a robust pace at the start of the fourth quarter," said Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
She said strong demand underpinned growth in employment and purchasing activity during the month.
She added that overall input costs and output prices continued to rise, although inflation rates eased from September's levels.
"Despite the operational-constraints-driven slowdown in business activity growth, forward-looking indicators, including the new orders, backlogs of work and future output indices, all hinted at continued business activity growth in the near term," she said. ■
