Businesses in the eurozone reported their best month of activity in more than six and a half years in November with job growth at a 17-year high, according to a closely-watched series of surveys.
The headline purchasing managers’ index for the single currency area rose from 56 to 57.5, with multi-year highs for all the main indicators of output, demand, employment and inflation.
Most economists had expected the main figure to stay steady, but respondents in both the services and manufacturing sectors reported healthy improvements.
The manufacturing sub-index was particularly strong, with better than expected results in Germany driving it to its second-highest level on record.
In news that should be welcomed by officials at the European Central Bank, the faster growth and increasingly stretched capacity led to signs of rising inflationary pressures. Respondents reported the largest rise in input prices since May 2011 and there were signs the cost increases are being increasingly passed on to consumers, with selling prices also growing at the fastest pace in more than six years.
The PMI surveys, compiled by IHS Markit, question firms on a range of measures to gain a picture of the overall health of local economies, and are seen as useful early indicators of economic growth. If current levels are sustained through the end of the year, the surveys point to a fourth-quarter GDP expansion of 0.8 per cent for the currency area as a whole.
Chris Williamson, IHS Markit chief business economist, said:
Read again 'Business is booming' – Eurozone business surveys point to best month in more than six years : http://ift.tt/2A2yUlkThe message from the latest Eurozone PMI is clear: business is booming. Growth kicked higher in November to put the region on course for its best quarter since the start of 2011.
There are signs that political uncertainty appears to have subdued business optimism a little, but the broad-based nature of the upturn, and the rate at which rising demand is feeding through to the labour market, suggests the eurozone will see a strong end to 2017 and enter 2018 on a firm footing.
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