Eurozone services PMI contracts as expected in October

The Eurozone's services sector contracted for the third straight month in October as expected, with final figures released on Monday confirming earlier 'flash' estimates.

The S&P Global/HCOB services purchasing managers' index was unrevised at 47.8 last month, in line with analysts' predictions.

This was down from 48.7 in September and the lowest level since February 2021.

As a result, the composite PMI – which when combined with the manufacturing PMI gives a broader sense of economic activity – was confirmed at 46.5, down from 47.2 the month before.

"Overall, the PMIs continue to signal downside risks to Eurozone GDP growth, warning that services activity is now faltering, alongside a so-far sustained slowdown in manufacturing," said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"A slowdown in services output was the key driver of the further softening in EZ private sector activity at the start of Q4, amid an unchanged pace of contraction in industry, adding to the evidence that the slowdown in the economy is now becoming more broad-based."