Hiring in Indian private sector flat in Sept

The pace of recruitment by Indian private sector companies in September 2010, remained more or less at the same level as the previous month, according to a report.

According to private sector lender HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index, which provides a monthly snapshot of economic trends, there was an increase in services sector hiring, but job cuts by manufacturers left the employment rate unchanged in September, 2010, vis-a-vis the previous month.

Commenting on the report, HSBC Asian Economics Research Co-Head Frederic Neumann said: "... India's service industry is stepping off the throttle. Along with the manufacturing sector, growth is slowing, although the expansion continues."
    
"All this suggests a mild easing of demand growth since the red-hot pace earlier this year," Neumann added.
    
The report, which was compiled by leading global financial information services company Markit, said that manufacturing data showed a slowdown in output gains. However, companies in the service sector in the country reported a solid rise in new work during September.
   
The report said many analysts anticipated that improved marketing initiatives and high quality services will boost orders over the coming year.
    
However, an even bigger rise in input costs within the manufacturing industry meant that overall input price inflation was broadly unchanged since August, the report said.
    
"Price pressures, however, have not eased meaningfully, which represents a challenge for the central bank," Neumann said.
    
Neumann further said that mild easing of demand growth is hardly enough to relax the guard against inflation. RBI officials may need to tighten the monetary policy further to avert price pressure from becoming entrenched, he said.