Australia Services Sector Picks Up Steam In March - S&P Global

(RTTNews) - The services sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 51.6.

That's up from 50.8 in February, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The acceleration of services activity growth was driven by rising new work inflows. New business placed at Australian service providers expanded at a solid rate that was the fastest in almost three years. Better economic conditions, marketing efforts and widening client interest were often mentioned by panelists as reasons for stronger inflows of services new business.

Although export business declined modestly for the first time since last November, anecdotal evidence suggested that this was mainly due to disruptions from Cyclone Alfred, including upon tourism activities.