Business | Economy
Service industries' index plummets
An index of Russian service industries, from banks to mobile phone retailers, plummeted to a record in December to show that the economy, heading for a recession, was curbing spending.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 23:58 January 6, 2009
Moscow: An index of Russian service industries, from banks to mobile phone retailers, plummeted to a record in December to show that the economy, heading for a recession, was curbing spending.
The Purchasing Managers' Index contracted for a third consecutive month to 36.4 from 37.2 in November, VTB Bank Europe said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
"Survey respondents pointed to a rapid contraction of incoming new business," the report said.
"Ongoing financial market turmoil and concern over the health of the wider economy" led to a "further substantial decline in client demand," the report added.
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