{"id":27692,"date":"2026-03-04T10:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T08:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=27692"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T08:28:13","slug":"sas-business-activity-remains-stable-in-february-pmi-shows","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sas-business-activity-remains-stable-in-february-pmi-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"SA’s business activity remains stable in February, PMI shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Africa’s (SA) private sector activity held steady in February, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) holding \u200bat 50.0 for the second straight month, an \u200cStandard and Poor’s (S&P) Global survey showed on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While output was stable, however, total sales volumes dipped, prompting firms to reduce order backlogs \u200bto sustain activity levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Business optimism fell to its\u00a0\u200blowest since July 2021, with future output projections\u00a0\u2060subdued due to a lack of new orders\u00a0\u200band caution about the economic outlook.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Private sector conditions remained \u200bsteady in February, as domestic companies indicated that they had secured enough work to keep business activity ticking along smoothly,” said \u200bDavid Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, \u200bhe noted that “a shortage of order intakes made some firms hesitant \u200cto \u2060predict an expansion in activity over the next 12 months.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Employment saw a positive turn, with firms increasing staffing numbers after a slight reduction in the previous \u200bperiod.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Input price inflation \u200bremained mild, \u2060allowing businesses to lower selling prices for the first time since May 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This \u200bwas attributed to a stronger Rand against \u200bthe \u2060Dollar and lower fuel prices, which helped moderate cost pressures.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Supplier delays persisted, though they were less severe \u2060than \u200bearlier in the year. Firms continued \u200bto manage inventories cautiously, with stocks decreasing for the third month in \u200ba row.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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–Reuters–<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13481,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-27692","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"SA private sector activity held steady in February","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27693,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27692\/revisions\/27693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=27692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}