The Eurozone economy lost growth momentum for a second successive month in May, flash data from Markit showed Thursday.
The composite Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 53.4 in May from 53.9 in April. The reading was expected to remain unchanged at 53.9.
However, the survey revealed that the rate of expansion remained sufficiently robust to encourage firms to take on extra staff at the fastest rate for four years.
The flash manufacturing PMI rose to 52.3 in May from 52 in the prior month. It was forecast to fall to 51.8.
Meanwhile, the services PMI dropped more-than-expected to 53.3 from 54.1 a month ago. The expected score was 53.9.
“The average PMI reading for the second quarter so far points to GDP growth similar to the 0.4 percent expansion seen in the first three months of the year,” Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said.
“This suggests the region is on course to expand by around 2.0 percent this year, which would be the best performance since 2010.”
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