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Despite a softening of momentum from the previous month, Dubai's non-oil economy continued to expand at a robust pace in September as activities and new Despite a softening of momentum since the previous month, Dubai's non-oil economy continued to expand at a robust pace in September with the sharp rise of business activity and new businesses, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Dubai Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped a three-month low of 56.2 in September, after reaching a 38-month peak of 57.9 in August.
The survey, which covers the Dubai travel & tourism, wholesale & retail and construction sectors, showed that activity was driven by sales growth in wholesale & retail businesses in September, which recorded a 38-month high. New business in travel & tourism also rose sharply, although the rate of growth dropped to the weakest since January, the report said.
While output continued to expand sharply among construction firms, new orders increased only slightly indicating a softening in the sales pipelines.
"The slowdown came amid a renewed uptick in input costs, after last month's data signalled a record drop in prices due to lower energy and fuel expenses," said David Owen, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
After a dip in energy costs led to a fall in companies' input prices in August, the latest data pointed to a rise in costs in September.
"Nevertheless, the pace of inflation was only marginal at best, providing further relief to businesses that had suffered marked increases in costs earlier in the year," said Owen.
The general slowdown in both output and new business growth had its impact on employment levels at non-oil companies in September. The latest rise in staffing was marginal and the softest recorded since June.
Expectations for future activity at non-oil businesses picked up in September and remained in positive territory, but well below the series average.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
