According to the flash report from HCOB, business activity in the private sector of the eurozone declined sharply in September, reaching its lowest level since February amid a sustained reduction in new orders. Meanwhile, demand weakness resulted in slower inflation of both input costs and output prices.
The eurozone composite PMI output index fell in September to 48.9 points from 51.0 points in August. An index value below 50 points indicates a decrease in activity in the sector. Economists had expected the index to drop to 50.6 points. The services PMI fell to 50.5 (7-month low) from 52.9 in August, while the manufacturing PMI fell to 44.8 points (9-month low) from 45.8 points. Economists had expected the services PMI to drop to 52.4 points and the manufacturing PMI to be 45.6 points.
HCOB said that new orders in the private sector recorded a fourth consecutive monthly decline, with the pace of decline being the sharpest since January. Meanwhile, new export orders declined for the 31st consecutive month and at the fastest pace since January. The data also pointed to the second monthly decline in employment in the private sector. Although modest, the drop in staffing levels was the sharpest since December 2020. Meanwhile, the latest fall in backlogs of work was solid and the sharpest in 10 months. Business confidence fell again in September (for the 4th month in a row), and reached its lowest level since November 2023. Sentiment was also weaker than the series average. As for the inflationary situation, the pace of input inflation eased to its lowest level since November 2020, while output prices increased only slightly, and to the least extent since February 2021 when the current sequence of inflation began.