ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Growth in the United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector activity held steady in November, while improved demand conditions boosted growth in new business, a survey showed on Friday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index edged up to 54.2 in November from 54.1 in October, staying above the 50.0 mark denoting growth although the growth rate remains slower than seen earlier this year.
The new orders subindex rose to its highest level since August, jumping to 58.0 in November from October’s 55.9, which was the slowest pace of growth in new sales since September last year.
“Businesses continued to see a marked upturn in sales, which spurred activity forwards but also greatly added to outstanding work… The survey data indicated that firms did little to try and rectify these capacity pressures,” David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.
“Despite the positive headline figure, the survey data signalled a degree of uncertainty among firms about how long this strength will last.”
The expansion in business activity remained robust despite a slowing in the rate of output growth in November to 59.6 from 61.3 the previous month. The seasonally adjusted index nevertheless remained above its long-run average.
However, UAE non-oil firms continued to accumulate faster backlogs of outstanding work in November, and the rate of job creation hit a 31-month low, with companies’ confidence in future business activity remaining muted.