India’s service sector activity hit a three-month low in December as business activity and sales grappled with the possibility of another wave of Covid-19 cases, according to a survey released on Wednesday by analytics firm IHS Markit India.

The monthly purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, fell from 58.1 in November to 55.5 in December. It was 58.4 in October. A reading above 50 shows an expansion, while a lower reading indicates a contraction in manufacturing or service sector activities.

The survey also stated that new business from abroad did not pick up due to travel and other restrictions.

Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit described 2021 as “another bumpy year for service providers”.

“Still, the latest readings pointed to robust increases in sales and business activity compared to the survey trend,” Lima said in the survey report.

Meanwhile, on the employment front, there was slight job shedding as compared to November’s figures. However, the payrolls of 96% of surveyed companies had remained unchanged.

“Firms generally suggested that employment levels were sufficient to cope with current workloads,” the report stated.