Eurozone Private Sector Continues To Expand

(RTTNews) - Eurozone private sector logged a robust growth in the penultimate month of the year as services activity grew the most in a year-and-a-half, survey results published by S&P Global showed on Friday.

The flash HCOB composite output index dropped marginally to 52.4 in November from 52.5 in October. The score was forecast to remain stable at 52.5.

Despite a marginal fall, the latest growth was among the sharpest in the past two-and-a-half years. Output has now increased in each of the past 11 months.

The overall expansion was centered on service providers, where the growth hit an 18-month high. The services Purchasing Managers' Index edged up to 53.1 from 53.0 in October. The reading was expected to fall to 52.8.

Meanwhile, manufacturing output grew at the joint-slowest rate in the current nine-month sequence of expansion. The factory PMI fell to 49.7 from 50.0 in the prior month. The expected level was 50.1.

Respondents were also more upbeat on the outlook for the coming year, but new order growth softened and employment was kept unchanged after rising in October.

Regarding prices, the survey showed that input costs increased at the fastest pace in eight months amid a renewed rise in manufacturing input prices, but selling charges increased at the softest rate in just over a year.

"We are still several months, and possibly even several quarters, away from sustained expansion in the manufacturing sector," Hamburg Commercial Bank Chief Economist Cyrus de la Rubia said.

"The service sector in the eurozone is a ray of hope," de la Rubia added.

"Although the manufacturing sector is dampening growth performance, the high weight of the service sector in the overall economy means that the eurozone as a whole should grow faster in the final quarter than in the third quarter," the economist added.

Germany continued to register growth of output in November, albeit with the pace of expansion easing from October. Meanwhile, France saw a near-stabilization of business activity, helped by a return to growth in the service sector.

Germany's private sector growth softened in November with slower increases in both services and manufacturing. The composite output index slid more-than-expected to 52.1 in November from a 29-month high of 53.9 a month ago.

The services PMI logged 52.7 in November, down from 54.6 in the previous month. The expected score was 54.0. Likewise, the manufacturing PMI hit a six-month low of 48.4 in November compared to 49.6 a month ago. The score was forecast to rise to 49.8.

France's private sector economy broadly stabilized in November driven by a fresh rise in services activity, flash survey results from S&P Global revealed on Friday.

The HCOB composite output index rose more-than-expected to a 15-month high of 49.9 in November from 47.7 in October. The reading was seen at 48.1.

The services PMI posted 50.8, up from 48.0 in October. The score was above economists' forecast of 48.4. By contrast, the factory PMI dropped unexpectedly to 47.8 from 48.8 in the prior month. The score was forecast to rise to 49.0.