Global business growth at weakest pace this year in Sept: PMI

[LONDON] Global business growth slowed to its weakest pace this year in September as demand faltered despite firms cutting prices for the first time since January, a survey showed on Monday.

JPMorgan's Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit, slumped to 52.8 in September from August's 53.9, its lowest level since December. It has however held above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction since October 2012. "The latest PMI surveys point to a waning trend in global economic growth at the end of the third quarter, as rates of expansion softened in both the manufacturing and service sectors," said David Hensley, a director at JPMorgan.

A global PMI covering the service industry staged a similar fall, coming in at 53.5 compared to August's 54.6. A sister survey last week showed global manufacturing continued to record lacklustre growth at the end of the third quarter.

The global sub-index measuring output prices slipped to 49.8 from 50.2, its lowest reading in over three years.

The global PMIs combine survey data from countries including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia.

REUTERS