The private sector in the euro area saw growth in March, marking an end to a period of contraction that began in June of the previous year, as per the final survey results from S&P Global's purchasing managers' survey, released on Thursday.
The final composite output index for HCOB surged to a ten-month high of 50.3 in March, up from 49.2 in February, exceeding the neutral benchmark of 50.0 for the first time since May of the previous year. However, the upturn remained minimal as the decline in the manufacturing sector nearly balanced out the moderate recovery in the services industry.
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services sector reached 51.5, an increase from February's 50.2 and the preliminary score of 51.1, marking the second consecutive month of expansion and the strongest since last June.
Among the euro zone countries, Spain and Italy contributed the most to the growth, with their growth rates speeding up to the highest in almost a year, thus overriding sustained output contractions in the two largest economies of the bloc, Germany and France.
Germany's private sector saw a decline in March, albeit at a slower pace, with the composite output index rising to a four-month high of 47.7 from February's 46.3. Meanwhile, France's private sector continued to contract, but at the slowest rate in the ongoing ten-month decline period.
Spain's improvement in business activity was due to the continuous strength of the service sector and renewed growth in manufacturing. In contrast, in Italy, the private sector expanded further in March with broad-based output growth seen for the first time in a year.
