Economic activities in the eurozone expectedly slowed down in February after rising at the strongest pace in nearly 12 years in the previous month, reported London-based Markit on Monday, whose data shows a slower inflow of new orders and production.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the eurozone’s private sector fell to 57.1 points in February, down from 58.8 points in January, reported the London-based economic data collection and processing company. This revised down the initial estimate of its value by 0.4 points.
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– It seems that the eurozone economy stumbled in February after a brilliant start to the year, notes Markit’s chief business economist Chris Williamson.
He emphasizes that it is too early to draw any conclusions from the drop in the PMI last month, adding that “a decline from the high January level was expected anyway.”
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– It is more appropriate to consider the elevated levels that the survey continues to show, he believes.
Thus, the manufacturing and services sectors continue to record their best growth periods in seven years, despite the slowdown in the inflow of new orders and production.
Order Backlog
Although the inflow of new orders has slowed, its pace is still stretching companies’ capacities, as evidenced by the continued accumulation of unfulfilled orders.
Business leaders’ expectations remained in February close to the highest level in eight months recorded in January, and the combination of the current strong growth pace and expected business increase in the upcoming period generates further job openings, Markit notes.
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Activities slowed down in all leading eurozone economies, although their pace remains solid. Germany leads the ranking of countries with the highest index value, followed by France and Spain.
– The available PMI this year suggests that the eurozone could record the strongest quarterly growth in 12 years, corresponding to GDP growth of a lively 0.8 to 0.9 percent on a quarterly basis, concludes Williamson.
