Factory activity grew in Russia for the eleventh month in March
A business survey Monday, April 3 revealed that activity in Russia’s manufacturing sector grew for the 11th consecutive month in March, driven by the fastest production increase this year and strong growth in future production expectations.
The Standard & Poor’s Global Purchasing Managers’ Index fell in March to 53.2 points from 53.6 in February, but it remained above the fifty-point level that differentiates between growth and contraction.
The rise of the sector for nearly a year depends on domestic demand, as new export orders fell for the fourteenth consecutive month, while Russia is proceeding with what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“The decline in demand from foreign customers worsened, with new export sales declining at the fastest pace since the beginning of 2023,” S&P Global said in a statement.
But despite this decline, the March data indicated an increase for the tenth consecutive month in new orders for Russian producers of goods, and the employment rate rose for the fifth month in a row.
