RIYADH: Saudi Arabia saw a robust rise in job numbers in the non-oil sector as business conditions improved in July, according to the latest Purchasing Managers Index data report from S&P Global. The activity in Saudi’s non-oil businesses expanded due to the country’s higher sales, new projects and better marketing, showed the report. The sector witnessed a five to one ratio of firms that recorded increased activity this month against firms that recorded a decline. The report said that improved business conditions resulted in stronger demand for talents, which has now reached the highest since September 2019. “The Saudi Arabia PMI remained firmly in growth territory in July, posting 56.3 after reaching an eight-month high of 57.0 in June,” said David Owen, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. He added: “New business continued to rise substantially, helped by recovering demand and strengthening export sales.” The increase in employment and output levels led to a drop in backlogs of work, where unfinished orders were supported with progressive buying activity. The report showed that suppliers coped effectively with the rising demand, such that vendors were able to reduce their delivery times and inventories of goods bought were picked up quickly. “The overall improvement in supplier performance was the second-fastest in almost four years,” said the report. With regards to price levels, the Kingdom faced slightly lower inflation in July but still marked the second fastest price increase since August 2020. Companies continued to face a rise in input costs, where the main drivers were attributed to rising oil and material prices, the latest survey data showed. The rising costs were passed through to both workers and customers; the staff wages increased at the fastest rate since February 2018, and the average prices charged saw a further solid increase, said the report. “Non-oil firms gave a robust projection for future activity in July,” concluded the report, “with the degree of optimism slipping marginally but remaining one of the strongest seen since the pandemic began.”