Eurozone private sector posted its strongest expansion in seven months in April as the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions drove up services growth.
- The S&P Global composite output index jumped to 55.8 in April, in line with the flash estimate, from 54.9 in March. The figure signaled the strongest growth since September 2021.
- Improvement in the headline figure offset widely divergent trends at the sector level, with data indicating sharp services activity growth but a sluggish jump in manufacturing output.
- The services Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at an eight-month high of 57.7 in April, from 55.6 a month ago. The sector posted strength after the relaxation of virus containment measures.
- Chris Williamson, a chief business economist at S&P Global state that the survey data are in line with GDP expanding at a quarterly pace of nearly 0.7% at the start of Q2 after signaling a 0.45 jump in Q1.
Quicker improvements were also reported in Spain and Italy as Germany defied the trend as growth slowed to a three-month low.
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Source: S&P Global.
