Eurozone manufacturing PMI at 4-month low

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The purchasing managers index (PMI) for the euro area's manufacturing sector was at four-month low level - 47.1 - in March, data provider S&P Global released on Friday.

Eurozone economic growth accelerated to a ten-month high in March, and inflationary pressure eased in March on manufacturing sector, the report said.

"However, the overall rate of growth remains modest and driven solely by the service sector, with manufacturing suffering a further loss of new orders, meaning current output is only being sustained via backlogs of previously placed orders," it added.

The euro area's manufacturing output was also at two-month low level in March.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global, said: "Although inflationary pressures continue to moderate, the rate at which prices charged for goods and services are rising remains higher than anything seen in the survey history prior to the pandemic.

"Such stubborn inflationary pressures, fueled primarily by the service sector and rising wage costs, will be a concern to policymakers and suggests that more work may be needed in terms of bringing inflation down to target."