The final data published by HCOB showed that private sector activity decreased at the fastest pace since January amid a renewed decline in services output. Employment also fell further, while business confidence dropped to a 12-month low.
The eurozone composite PMI output index, which assesses the change in activity in the manufacturing sector and the service sector, fell in November to 48.3 points from 50.0 points in October. Economists had expected a decline to 48.1 points. An index value below 50 points indicates a reduction in activity in the sector. As for the eurozone countries, Germany, France and Italy all registered contractions in business activity. Ireland and Spain posted expansions, with the former registering the strongest growth in output for two-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, the eurozone services PMI reached 49.5 (10-month low) compared to 51.6 in October and forecasts at 49.2.
The data also showed that new orders in the private sector declined again in November (for the 6th month in a row), while the pace of decline was the steepest in the year-to-date. Meanwhile, new orders from non-domestic customers fell at a faster pace than that of total sales. The backlog of work declined again (for the 20th month in a row), while the rate of decline was among the fastest in 2024 so far. Employment in the private sector also declined in November. The reduction in staffing levels was only marginal, but nevertheless the second-fastest since December 2020 (behind October). Meanwhile, the degree of business confidence waned to its lowest in a year and was much weaker than its long-term average. As for the inflationary situation, the rates of increase in both input costs and output prices accelerated and were at their most marked since August.