Europe's manufacturing offsets downturn in services

While services for the sixth consecutive month revolved in contractionary territory, as virus-related restrictions continued to affect many businesses, manufacturing portrayed greater resilience, expanding for an eighth successive month and faster when compared to previous readings.

The most recent manufacturing PMI data were the latest illustration of Europe’s two-speed economic recovery. 

In February, Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised slightly higher to 57.9 – a three-year high, up from a preliminary estimate of 57.7 and significantly higher from January's 54.8 as operating conditions improved. 

A reading above the 50 mark indicates an expansion compared to the previous month.

Output and new orders expanded by the most since last October’s recent peak, aided by the stronger exports - the main driver of all new order gains. Additionally, employment increased for the first time in two years. Delays and difficulties in sourcing inputs, this resulting from an upturn in global demand and transportation hurdles, led to the second-greatest deterioration in lead times (the latency between the initiation and completion of a process) since data were first available. On the price...