The sign of a broad-based and sustained recovery is still missing despite the surprising improvement in the employment index. After PMI index rose in June to near the expansion territory, the index retreated back again in July 2021 to 49.1 from 49.9 in June 2021, marking eight consecutive months of contraction as non-oil private-sector activity. The reading came to reflect the fragility of the economic recovery given the weak demand and growing risks of the spread of the Delta variant accompanied by a low vaccination rate. The breakdown of the survey showed the decline in both output and new order indices below 50 as output and demand fell for the seventh time in eight months.
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Mona Bedeir
Chief Economist
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