The Nomura India business resumption index (NIBRI) rose to a record high of 99.4 for the week ending August 8 compared to 94 for the preceding week as COVID-19 cases remained largely under control allowing higher mobility. NIBRI, which collates high-frequency data from multiple trackers like Apple driving index and Google, is nearing the pre-pandemic level of 100.

“This index is near the pre-pandemic level of 100 and surpassing the pre-second-wave peak (of 99.3 in mid-February),” Nomura research analyst Sonal Varma was quoted as saying by a top English-language daily.

NIBRI had plateaued briefly before mobility picked up with Apple driving index, Google workplace, and retail and recreation rose by 6.7, 7.4, and 5.3 percentage points respectively.

Also, electricity consumption, which is one of the key indicators of the pace of economic activity, rose by 5.3 per cent week on week, according to the Nomura index.

At the same time, the labour participation rate also increased from 39.8 per cent to 41.5 per cent, meaning more people are job hunting at the moment. This, in turn, has pushed the unemployment rate up to 8.1 per cent.

As per Japanese securities firm Nomura, the business resumption index also soared partly due to the daily COVID-19 case count, which remained flat 40,000.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

Disclaimer - All News/Articles items are subject to copyright and no article either in full or part may be reproduced in any form without permission from Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd.