Euro Zone Service Sector Contracted In February

The euro zone’s service sector contracted unexpectedly in February, increasing fears of a recession.

Euro zone Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released by Markit, fell to 49.4 in February from 50.4 in January, below the forecasted level. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction.

Euro zone manufacturing PMI rose to 49.0 from January’s 48.8, but still remained below 50 for the seventh consecutive month. Factory output PMI was unchanged at 50.4, but new orders fell for the ninth successive month.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, saw both its manufacturing and service sector PMI shrink. By contrast, France, the second largest economy in Europe, saw its manufacturing PMI increase on strong exports, while its service sector PMI fell to 50.3 in February from 52.3 in January.

According to the official data released last month, the euro zone unemployment reached 10.4 percent at the end of last year, its highest level since the introduction of the EU’s single currency.

Euro zone consumer confidence, however, rose for the second consecutive month in February as Europeans showed timid signs of increased spending.

Source: Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.