He Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMIfor its acronym in English) of the Eurozone has rebounded in the month of February, registering a 52.0 from the 50.3 scored in January. S&P Global has confirmed that this is its best mark in eight months and its fastest expansion since June 2022.
What means that this figure exceeds 50 entails an expansion of economic activity in the euro area. This rise was mainly driven by the stability of manufacturing production and by “a stronger improvement in service sector activity”. Exactly, the level of new orders received rose for the first time since May 2022, as increased customer activity supported strengthening underlying demand.
The downward trend of all pending orders also continued, as Eurozone companies continued their contracting activities. As a result, business confidence rose to its 12-month high.
Likewise, a sharp reduction in cost pressures in the Manufacturing sector it concealed the strengthening of the inflation of the prices paid by the service companies. So the overall rate of increase in operating costs was the slowest in almost two years.
Meanwhile, the Services Sector Commercial Activity PMIis at eight-month highs, with 52.7, registering a rise of 1.9 points compared to the first month of 2023. This is due to the “moderate” increase in the volumes of new orders that were registered during the February, although it was at the fastest speed since May 2022. The upturn in demand added pressure to operating capacities, as demonstrated by the increase in backlogs.
The companies belonging to service sector They continued to increase their workforces in February, with a creation rate slightly faster than the observed historical average, but it has slowed down since January. Nevertheless, activity costs of said sector were up substantially in February, and, also, the pace of progress picked up slightly.
“Doubts remain about the strength of underlying demand, especially as part of the increase seen in February appears to have been driven by temporary factors, such as unusually warm weather and a marked improvement in supplier lead times, likely related in part with the recent reopening of China,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at S&P Global Market.
record in locomotives
on your side, Spain was the main European economy with a higher index, 55.7, a record for nine months. Then Italy scored 52.2, their best mark in nine months as well. For its part, France registered 51.7 and Germany, 50.7. The two European locomotives obtained their best marks in seven and eight months, respectively.
