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Employment levels in Kuwaiti non-oil companies rose at their fastest recorded rate last month as business conditions continued to improve, but at a slightly slower rate than in May.
Andrew Harker, economics director, S&P Global Market Intelligence, said he expected more employment growth in the months ahead.
“Sustained inflows of new orders encouraged companies to expand their staffing levels at the sharpest pace on record in June,” he said.
“Firms were still unable to make a dent in their backlogs of work, however, suggesting that they may need to expand hiring further in the months ahead.”
The S&P Global Kuwait Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) recorded a headline figure of 51.6 for June, lower than May’s 52.4, but still above the 50.0 threshold that signals improving business conditions.
Non-oil companies in Kuwait continued to secure increases in output, with new orders increasing for the 17 months in a row, the report said.
Ongoing pressure on capacity encouraged firms to expand staffing levels, with employment rising at the fastest pace in the survey's history.
While input costs continued to rise sharply, the rate of inflation eased for the third month running and efforts to protect profit margins led firms to increase selling prices, but charges rose only modestly amid competitive pricing policies.
Respondents reported successful advertising was key to the rise in output, using a wide range of marketing channels, including social media.
New business was supported by a sharp and accelerated increase in new business from abroad, growing at the fastest rate since the survey began in September 2018.
Despite the higher pace of job growth, it was still only modest, the report said, and not sufficient to prevent a further accumulation of backlogs of work given the strength of new order growth.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Daniel Luiz)
