UAE non-oil sector picks up in Oct as firms hire more staff – PMI

The United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector picked up again in October, growing at a pace close to August’s three-year high, while employment expanded at its fastest in six years.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.6 in October from 56.1 in September, its fastest since June 2019 with the exception of August this year, which saw growth at a marginally faster pace.

“The upturn was led by sharp expansions in business activity and new orders, giving further evidence that domestic firms were not only weathering the global economic storms, but enjoying strong demand growth,” wrote David Owen, economist at survey compiler S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The output subindex rose to 62.8 from 61.7 in September, well above the average since 2009 of 57.7.

“The key movements in October were seen on the capacity side, as businesses responded to rising backlogs by increasing their employment numbers at a faster rate,” Owen said.

The employment subindex rose to 52.0 in October from 51.4 in September, the quickest pace of job creation recorded since July 2016.

“Firms also looked to stock up on inputs as they prepare work schedules to address their backlogs, leading to a rapid increase in purchasing activity that was the fastest for over three years,” Owen said.

Despite the positive readings, survey respondents “continued to show only a moderate degree of optimism” for output over the next 12 months, the PMI report said. About 14 per cent of firms expected output to rise in the next year.

The future output subindex dipped slightly, though it was slightly above the average since the start of the pandemic.