Eurozone services PMI ticks higher in November

Markit’s final eurozone composite output index came in at 53.9 in November, down from the flash estimate of 54.1 but up from October’s 53.3.

This marked the best reading since December 2015, with the strongest rates of increases registered by Ireland and Spain.

Manufacturing production growth slowed slightly from October, but still expanded at a slightly faster pace than service sector business activity.

Meanwhile, the final eurozone service business activity index printed at 53.8, down from the flash estimate of 54.1 but up from October’s 52.8. The index was above the neutral 50 mark for the fortieth consecutive month.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said: “The Eurozone PMI indicated faster economic growth in November. The improvement is enough to signal an acceleration of GDP growth to 0.4% in the fourth quarter.

“The near-term outlook also looks promising. Rather than fretting about political risk, companies appear to be gearing up for further expansion. Employment is rising at one of the fastest rates seen over the past five years. Employers’ appetite to hire is being whetted by a further accumulation of unfinished work. Backlogs of uncompleted orders showed the largest rise for five-and-a-half years.”