Data Roundup: PMI Growth, Amazon Layoffs

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New Delhi: Every Friday, Plain Facts publishes a compilation of data-driven insights, complete with easy-to-read charts, to help you dig deeper into the stories reported by mint in the last week. Monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index data and quarterly capital spending data, both released this week, showed the economy in a positive light. The Supreme Court issued its verdict on demonetization, Amazon was the last to lay off staff, and covid-19 is spreading in East Asia.

resilient growth

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India’s manufacturing activity expanded in December at its highest pace in 26 months, with the S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising to 57.8, from 55.7 in November. Growth was led by a strong expansion in new orders and production, and declining input prices. The Services PMI also rose to a six-month high of 58.5. The PMI is based on a survey of companies, and a number above 50 denotes expansion. Among the G20 nations, India had the best manufacturing PMI.

court seal

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The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the legality of the Center’s 2016 decision to demonetize the old $500 and $1,000 banknotes. The 4-1 ruling said the government was in its power to make the decision and did not comment on the economic merits of the policy. Meanwhile, central bank data shows that the $2000 banknotes that emerged after demonetization had a short period: from 50% of the total value of all banknotes in 2016-17, they now represent only 14%.

shooting marathon

That’s how many employees tech giant Amazon will lay off, largely from its human resources and e-commerce organizations, chief executive Andy Jassy was quoted as saying by Reuters. This is higher than the 10,000 possible job cuts that sources had reported to news agencies in November. The headwinds facing the US tech sector amid a slowing economy have already led to thousands of layoffs as companies try to cut costs.

eye in games

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The Center published draft rules on Monday to regulate the growing sector of online gaming. It has proposed to bring real money online gaming platforms under the IT (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Ethics) Rules, 2021, which also regulates social media. The draft rules have also defined an “online game” as one that is “offered over the Internet and accessible to a user through a computing resource if they make a deposit with the expectation of winning.”

Reactivation of capital spending

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In some good news, Indian companies announced projects worth a combined $6.1 trillion in the third quarter, up 44% year-on-year, according to the Indian Economic Monitoring Center. This was the highest in three quarters and the second highest since 2020. Capex announcements in the private space were even stronger, more than doubling in one year. However, the growth is still not across the board, as it was dominated by a handful of states and mainly by the manufacturing sector.

Extraordinary income tax

That’s the new tax rate on windfall gains on crude oil, above $1,700/ltr earlier, the Center said on Monday. Extraordinary levies on petroleum and aviation turbine fuel were also raised. Rates were first raised in July 2022 and have been adjusted multiple times since. The initial increase was intended to help government spending at a time when oil producers were enjoying high profits due to international price increases as a result of the war in Ukraine.

cyber alert

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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences server attack in November 2022 was a reminder that cybercrime is multiplying in all shapes and sizes. Last year, cyberattacks targeting the government sector globally nearly doubled, with India having the largest share (13.7%), according to a report released last week by CloudSEK. Overall, 52,974 cybercrime cases were reported in 2021, with Telangana having the worst rate, the Mint reported this week, citing official data.

Chart of the Week: Covid Curse

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There is growing concern over China’s reports of covid-19 cases and deaths. Several countries have placed restrictions on people traveling from China. East Asian countries are reporting a large increase in covid cases. So is China, but the official data has stopped showing it.

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