London (Reuters) – The growth of the euro area services sector has accelerated slightly in September to reach its highest level for eight months, although the expansion has remained modest, hirings stagnating in a context of limited improvement in demand, according to a survey.
The final HCOB PMI of services index went from 50.5 in August to 51.3 in September, according to S&P Global. This suggests a fourth consecutive month of expansion, the figures above 50.0 indicating growth in activity.
“Things are going a little better in the service sector. After a quasi-stagnation in August, commercial activity resumed more strongly in September,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at the Commercial Bank Hamburg.
The recovery has been extended to most countries in the euro zone, with moderate growth in Germany, Italy and Spain. However, France has continued to experience difficulties, political uncertainty weighing on its service providers.
If the demand for services has increased in the region at the highest rate since August of last year, the improvement has remained marginal. The external demand has remained low, new export orders falling for the 28th consecutive month.
Despite limited growth in new cases, service providers have become more optimistic about future activity, the confidence of companies reaching its highest level for 11 months in September.
The final PMI HCOB composite index of the euro zone, which includes both services and manufacturing industry, increased slightly to 51.2 against 51.0 in August, thus marking its highest level since May 2024.
Companies have notably slightly reduced their workforce in September, breaking with a series of hires that had lasted since March. At the same time, they continued to execute their command notebooks, which decreased to the fastest rate in three months.
Pressures on prices have released somewhat during the month, input costs and selling prices increasing less quickly than in August.
“Although the cost of inflation of costs and selling prices are slightly higher than the long -term average, they decreased in September,” added Cyrus de la Rubia.
Based on PMI data, the commercial bank Hamburg estimates that the economy of the euro zone increased by 0.4% in the last quarter compared to the previous three months. A Reuters survey carried out last month gave growth of 0.1%.
(Jonathan Cable, Mara Vîlcu for the , edited by Benjamin Mallet)
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