BENGALURU, April 4 Reuters India39;s dominant services industry grew faster in March amid strong demand, according to a private business survey that also showed employment increased at the fastest rate in seven months and export business expanded at a record pace.

The final HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers39; Index, compiled by SP Global, rose to 61.2 last month from February39;s 60.6, confounding a preliminary reading for a fall to 60.3.

That put the reading above the 50mark separating growth from contraction for a 32nd consecutive month.

India39;s services PMI rose in March, following a small dip in February, on the back of strong demand that spurred sales and business activity, said Ines Lam, economist at HSBC.

While buoyant domestic demand and favourable economic conditions drove up new business, exports jumped at the quickest pace since the subindex was included in the survey in September 2014.

That encouraged firms to increase hiring at the fastest rate since August. That is good news for a country with millions of entrants to the workforce every year.

The outlook for the coming year remained optimistic, although last month39;s reading showed the future activity subindex had slipped to a fourmonth low as there were some concerns surrounding competitive pressures.

Rising input costs coupled with robust demand led firms to pass on the increase to clients, resulting in prices charged climbing at the strongest rate since July 2017.

Input costs rose at…