Germany’s private sector continued to see strong growth in February, despite the pace of expansion slowing down from the near seven-year high seen during the opening month of the year, according to the latest PMI® survey from IHS Markit. Flash Germany Services PMI Activity Index at 55.3 (57.3 in January), what is a 3-month low. Flash Germany Manufacturing PMI at 60.3 (61.1 in January), what is a 6-month low. While February’s flash PMI figure was down on January’s recent high, it still continued to point to a robust pace of private sector expansion in the eurozone’s largest economy. The performance so far in the first quarter remains better than that seen in final three months of 2017, which saw GDP rise 0.6%.
German and French PMI declined in February
- Wednesday, Feb 21 2018
French private sector activity slowed but remained solid in February, according to survey data released on Wednesday. The preliminary reading of the Markit services purchasing managers’ index came in at 57.9 this month from 59.2 in January. Economists had forecast a reading of 59.1. The manufacturing PMI dropped to 56.1, compared to expectations for 58.1 and from 58.4 a month earlier. The composite output index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors ticked down to 57.8 from 59.6, against expectations for 59.4.