Dubai: UAE businesses recorded their highest outputs in four months during February, with owners more confident that the trend will continue through the rest of the year. On new orders, though, February recorded only the ‘smallest degree’ of increase since September 2021, according to the PMI data from S&P Global.

With slower new orders, it meant businesses took the same approach to their hiring, with new jobs picking up at ‘only a marginal pace’ last month. Most new hiring were linked to whether businesses signed up new projects.

Even then, the February data point to improving sentiments. “After touching a 12-month low in January, the PMI picked up slightly from 54.1 to 54.3 in February, to signal a sharp improvement in operating conditions,” said David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “But one that was nonetheless among the slowest recorded over the past year-and-a-half.

”Expectations towards future activity also picked up to a four-month high.”

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