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India’s services sector witnessed deceleration in growth during the month of November, amid softer expansions in new work intakes and output, the slowest in a year. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index eased to 56.9 in November from 58.4 in October. Further, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also fell to 57.4 in November as against 58.4 in October.

The report showed widespread slowdowns in rates of growth for both new orders and output across the four broad areas of the service economy. Finance & Insurance topped the rankings, while Real Estate & Business Services came last. Besides, international demand for Indian services improved further but, as for total new orders, growth lost momentum. The latest increase in new export orders was moderate and the slowest since June.

On the price front, services firms endured a further increase in their operating expenses, with labour, food, material and transportation costs reportedly rising since October. However, the overall rate of inflation softened to an eight-month low and was below its long-run average. Charge inflation also receded to the weakest in eight months during November, though the rate of increase was above the series trend.