Euro zone Feb business growth strongest in 2-1/2 years - PMI
By Jonathan Cable
LONDON (Reuters) - Euro zone private businesses enjoyed their fastest growth rate in over 2-1/2 years last month as the region's service industry expanded quicker than initially thought, surveys showed on Wednesday.
The upturn in the 18-member bloc's fortunes was again led by Germany, but the gulf between growth in Europe's biggest economy and the decline in France has only been wider once in the 16-year history of the surveys.
Markit's final Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which gauges business activity across thousands of companies and is seen as a good guide to economic health, was revised up to 53.3 from an initial flash reading of 52.7.
That was the eighth month the index has been above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and beat January's 52.9.
The surveys suggest the region's economy was on course to grow 0.4-0.5 percent in the first quarter, Markit said, more than the 0.3 percent growth predicted in a Reuters poll last month and would be the fastest expansion in three years.
"The final PMI indicates that the euro zone economy grew at the fastest rate since June 2011, contrasting with the slowdown signalled by the flash reading," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at survey compiler Markit.
"However, regional divergences remain a concern," he added.
Germany's composite PMI soared to a 33-month high but France's fell further below the break-even mark where it has languished for most of the past two years. Italy and Spain, the third and fourth biggest economies in the bloc, both had robust growth.
Much of the increase in the composite index was driven by the services PMI, which bounced from the preliminary flash reading of 51.7 to 52.6, the highest since June 2011.
To meet the increased activity, services firms took on more workers for only the second time in more than two years. The employment subindex nudged above the 50 mark to 50.1 from 49.7 in January.
But somewhat worryingly for the European Central Bank, which will announce its latest policy decision on Thursday, businesses were forced to cut prices for the 22nd month to drum up demand. The composite output prices index came in at 49.3.
Inflation across the currency union was just 0.8 percent in February, well below the ECB's 2 percent target ceiling, and the PMI will do little to allay fears of deflation in the region.
(Editing by Hugh Lawson)
