Lockdown effect: Service activities decline for 3rd straight month in July

Services, the biggest sector of India's economy, continued to contract for the third month in a row in July due to restrictions imposed by state governments to arrest the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, showed a  widely tracked IHS Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) survey.

However, the rate of contraction fell as the index rose to 45.4 in the month from 41.2 in June. A PMI below 50 means de-growth.

Business activity, new orders and employment declined in July, according to a commentary associated with the survey.  The latest data also pointed to an intensification of inflationary pressures across the