A number of companies linked rising cost to higher salary payments, the survey said.
While the overall readings in the private survey were far from alarming, the underlying results backed analysts’ cautious view on the outlook for the economy.
In particular, economists believe the construction rally, largely driven by a furious property boom since last year, may have peaked. Indeed, official data on Friday showed new construction orders dropped to the lowest since August 2016.
On top of the stepped-up curbs on the property sector, Beijing has also started to tighten policy settings to temper risks from a rapid build-up in debt.
Caixin’s composite manufacturing and services PMI, also released on Thursday, reinforced the patchy growth underpinned by weaker demand in March, with the index falling to 52.1 from the previous month’s 52.6.
“The Chinese economy continued to expand in March, but growth in both manufacturing and services slowed,” CEBM Group’s Zhong said, referring to the private survey.
Both the Caixin services and composite readings showed service providers and manufacturers continued to add jobs last month, but the pace was moderating.
