RTTNews | Dec 1, 2020 02:07AM EST

02:07 Tuesday, December 1, 2020 (RTTNews.com) - India's manufacturing activity improved at a softer pace in November, survey results from IHS Markit showed on Tuesday.

The headline IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, fell to 56.3 in November from 58.9 in October. The reading was the lowest in three months.

Economists had expected a fall to 57.3. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

New order growth was the slowest in three months in November. Demand from abroad increased. Production increased amid an easing in the Covid-19 restrictions and an improvement in market conditions.

The rate of expansion in output was the slowest in three months in November. Employment declined and the rate of job shedding was solid.

Outstanding business increased in November, while input holdings contracted with a decline in inventories of finished goods.

Input costs increased in November and the rate of inflation was the joint-strongest in two years. The rate of charge inflation rose to the highest in nine-months.

"Although the softening of rates of expansion seen in the latest month does not represent a major setback, since these are down from over decade highs in October, a spike in COVID-19 cases and the possibility of associated restrictions could undermine the recovery," Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit, said.

"Companies noted that the pandemic was the key factor weighing on growth during November, with COVID related uncertainty also restricting business confidence," Lima said.

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