Aug. 3, 2012 (China Knowledge) - China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), a major indicator of the strength of the non-manufacturing sector, dropped to 55.6 in July this year, down 1.1 points from June, according to figures released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
 
A reading on index above 50 indicates expansion, while the index below 50 indicates contraction.

In the construction sector, the non-manufacturing PMI rose 2.3 points from June to 60.4 last month, while the figure in the service sector declined 1.9 points to 54.4.
 
After seasonal adjustment, the new order index decreased 0.5 points from June to 53.2 last month. The new order index in the construction sector rose 2.8 points to 57.0, followed by 52.2 in the service sector, 1.4 points lower than in June.

The intermediate input price index fell 2.4 points from the previous month to 49.7 in July, the lowest level since January 2009. The intermediate input price index in the service sector was 50.5 last month and was 46.2 in the construction sector, down 2.8 points and 1.0 points MoM, respectively.
 
The non-manufacturing PMI is based on a survey of about 1,200 firms in 20 industries, including transport, real estate, retailing, catering and software.