India’s manufacturing activity slowed to an eight-month low in October this year due to demand for consumer goods slipped, according to a survey by the credit rating agency S&P Global.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined to 55.5 in October from 57.5 in September. However, manufacturing continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace, as a reading of over 50 reflects expansion.

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There was a slower increase in total new orders, production, exports, buying levels and stocks of purchases. The hiring activity and business confidence slipped to a five-month low in October. Meanwhile, cost pressures intensified, while output price inflation receded, the survey stated.

S&P said that with fewer than four per cent of companies hiring extra staff, the rate of job creation was slight and the slowest since April. As many as 95 per cent of the companies left their workforce numbers at the same level.

“The survey’s new orders index slipped to a one-year low, as some firms raised concerns about the current demand picture for their products. Consumer goods were behind most of the slowdown, recording considerably softer increases in sales, production, exports, input inventories and buying levels. Growth of all of the aforementioned variables was led by capital goods makers which, with the exception of new orders, registered accelerated rates of expansion,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“We saw a further indication of broadly stable inflationary forces across the manufacturing industry. It appears that a moderate increase in input costs was simply passed on to clients,” De Lima added.