DUBAI (Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s private non-oil sector continued its growth in November, driven by strong demand and moderate price pressures for business, however, it saw a lower rate of new orders, which was the lowest since August. A survey on Sunday showed.

Seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Saudi Arabia PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) dropped to 56.9 from 57.7 October. However, it remained above the 50.0 mark which separates growth and contraction for the 15th consecutive monthly.

According to the September seven-year record, the headline figures fell by three months. New orders growth declined for the second straight month.

However, November saw new export orders accelerate at the fastest rate since May. This is due to greater demand from overseas because of the lifting of restrictions related to pandemics.

David Owen of IHS Markit, economist said “The Saudi Arabia PMI continued indicating a strong finish to the year in the non-oil sector.”

He said that despite falling to a 3-month low, overall new business growth was quick and activity grew at one the fastest rates since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Research shows that higher sales are linked to improved economic conditions and higher tourism.

The steady growth of output led to firms hiring slightly more people than October. However, the overall unemployment rate was still low because many were cautious regarding sales forecasts.

Owen stated that “Jobs growth was disappointingly slow, with many companies choosing to not expand their workforces amid low optimism about future activity”.

“The risk of future COVID-19 wave threats continued to favor a cautious perspective, which led to a decline of the number of companies expecting their output to grow over the next one year,” he said.