Financial Tribune - Purchasing Managers' Index for the seventh month of the current fiscal year (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) settled at 50.97 from 50.43 in the preceding month (Aug. 23-Sept. 22), indicating a 0.54-point or 1.07% increase month-on-month, the Statistics and Economic Analysis Center of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture has announced.�

The center, known as the Farsi acronym �Shamekh�, is measuring PMI in Iran for the past 13 months.

PMI is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and services sectors. It aims to provide information about current business conditions to company decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.

The headline PMI is a number from 0 to 100, such that over 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month. A PMI reading under 50 indicates contraction and a reading of 50 implies no change.