OREANDA-NEWS. November 06, 2014. Activity in China's service sector continued to moderate in October, with the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector sliding to its lowest print since January, an official survey showed.
 
The non-manufacturing sector PMI posted at 53.8 percent last month, down 0.2 percentage points from September, according to a report jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
 
However, the reading was still above the 50 percent boom-bust line, which separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.
 
"Although the index pulled back slightly, it is still running smoothly, with some signs of good development demonstrated," said CFLP vice president Cai Jin.
 
The construction industry sub index fell to 58.5 percent in October from 60.2 percent in September. The services sub index, however, edged up 0.1 percentage points from September to 52.6 percent last month.
 
New order sub-index for the entire non-manufacturing sector advanced to 51 percent in October, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous month.
 
New order sub-index for the construction industry climbed 6.4 percentage points from the previous month to 56.4 percent, its highest level in the year.
 
Wu Wei, an analyst with China Logistics Information Center, said the pick-up in the construction-industry new order index indicates infrastructure investment will help boost the country's economic growth in the last quarter of the year.
 
China's economy grew at its slowest pace in the third quarter since the global financial crisis, expanding 7.3 percent from one year earlier, as the cooling property sector weighed on demand.
 
The PMI samples 1,200 non-manufacturing enterprises of various sizes nationwide. It tracks activity in sectors including services, construction, software, aviation, railway transportation and real estate.
 
The country's official manufacturing PMI dropped to a five-month low of 50.8 percent in October from 51.1 percent in September, the NBS said.