FX.co ★ Australia Services Sector Expands for 15th Straight Month

The S&P Global Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index recorded a reading of 51 in April 2025, signifying the fifteenth consecutive month of growth. However, this growth occurred at the slowest rate since February. The primary catalyst for this expansion was a substantial increase in new business inflows, marking the most significant rise since May 2022. This uptick contributed to further accumulation of backlogged work. In response to the growing workload, service providers continued hiring robustly. Nevertheless, business confidence was tempered by concerns over trade uncertainty following the recent introduction of U.S. tariffs, leading to a notable decline in export activity. Meanwhile, service providers increased their charges at the highest rate seen in nine months, prompted by a renewed surge in input costs at the outset of the second quarter.