BENGALURU, Sept 23 Reuters Growth in India39;s business activity slowed to a ninemonth low in September amid a slight cooling in demand and an uptick in costs, according to a survey that also showed services sector jobs rose at the fastest pace in two years.

HSBC39;s flash India Composite Purchasing Managers39; Index, compiled by SP Global, slipped to 59.3 this month from August39;s final reading of 60.7.

However, overall activity remained strong, taking the expansionary streak the 50mark separating expansion from contraction to over three years.

The flash composite PMI in India rose at a slightly slower pace in September, marking the slowest growth observed in 2024, noted Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

Both the manufacturing and service sectors exhibited similar trends during the month. Nevertheless, the pace of growth remained well above the longterm average.

The dominant services industry39;s index fell to 58.9 this month from 60.9 in August, its lowest since November, while the manufacturing one cooled to an eightmonth low of 56.7 from 57.5.

Overall growth was hurt by a softer rise in new business and orders key gauges for demand for both services and goods providers in domestic as well as overseas markets. The pace of expansion in manufacturing output was largely unchanged from August.

Highlighting softer demand, companies refrained from fully passing on a slight acceleration in input costs to customers as prices charged were muted…