The eurozone economic recovery has unexpectedly gathered pace this month as the bloc’s dominant services industry saw already-buoyant demand rise, more than offsetting a deepening downturn in manufacturing, surveys showed.
The strong services performance could mean that wage pressures continue in the region, complicating the European Central Bank’s efforts to tame inflation, some economists noted.
HCOB’s flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, jumped to an 11-month high of 54.4 in April from March’s 53.7, data showed on Friday.
That was well above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction and matched the highest forecast in a Reuters poll which had predicted no change from March….