UAE - Mubasher: The UAE’s seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 54.3 last February from 54.1 in January 2023, marking the strongest upturn since October 2022.

The reading highlighted a powerful improvement in the non-oil sector in line with the series long-run trend, according to the latest S&P Global PMI data.

The headline PMI was slightly offset by the suppliers' delivery times index which underlined the sharpest reduction in lead times since September 2019 due to an improvement in supply chain conditions.

For a future outlook, non-oil firms witnessed a stronger degree of confidence in February for the coming 12 months.

Meanwhile, the employment numbers increased at a marginal pace last month.

In line with the slowdown in sales growth, backlog volumes surged only modestly, marking the least extent in 20 months.

David Owen, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, commented: "The UAE PMI gave conflicting signals for the non-oil economy midway through the first quarter of the year.”

"The chief upside to the index was a faster rate of output growth, which accelerated for the first time in four months. Expectations towards future activity also picked up to a four-month high,” Owen noted.

He underlined: “However, while the sharp rise in output was largely attributed by firms to underlying demand strength, the latest upturn in new business was the slowest seen for 17 months, suggesting the improved growth picture may be short-lived.”

"Supply chain conditions strengthened in February, shown by a marked reduction in delivery times that was the fastest since September 2019. However, a concurrent and sharp rise in purchasing activity contributed to a renewed increase in purchase prices, putting increased pressure on firms' cost levels,” the economist concluded.