Eurozone Steady Business Growth in August

The Eurozone pace of growth has been moving steadily in August, primarily because of good performance for six and half years which has been the best within that period. This balanced off a mild weakening in services growth according to a main private sector surveyed on Wednesday.  Along with the bit of increase in price pressures, the data will most likely support expectations of easing the European Central Bank’s multi-billion euro asset purchases on a monthly basis.

The Flash Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) has shown a positive result considering the overall economic growth as it augmented slightly by 55.8 in August from 55.7, exceeding the poll from Reuters of 55.5.  The momentum was affected by a strong manufacturing growth from the largest euro zone economies namely, France and Germany, supported by high manufacturing PMI data surpassing even the sanguine forecasts.

Business expectations have declined among all industries which have been the weakest since November. Despite subdued price pressures condition, it climbed to its highest since May. Moreover, the employment data has slowed down a bit particularly in services and manufacturing. Nevertheless, it remained strong and responses from analysts are generally positive.