The monthly index was 51.6 in February, up from 51.3 in January.
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Private sector growth in the eurozone accelerated slightly in February, and even reached a six-month peak despite the coronavirus epidemic, according to a first estimate of the composite PMI published by the firm Markit on Friday.
The monthly index was 51.6 in February, up from 51.3 in January, the firm said in a statement.
“The renewed growth that began in January continued, despite the various disruptions caused by the coronavirus epidemic, particularly in supply chains and in the activity of tour operators and the tourism sector,” notes Chris Williamson, chief Markit’s economist, for whom this trend “foreshadows a quarterly increase in GDP of around 0.2%”.
“If the February data can moderate fears of an economic slowdown linked to the Covid-19 disease, it is still too early to measure the real impact of the epidemic on the economy of the euro zone”, warns it however.
In the wake of numerous delivery delays in February and in the absence of improvement in supply flows, there is indeed a risk, according to him, that the crisis will affect more severely from March “distribution chains, passenger transport , the tourism sector and the level of demand ”.
This “modest” growth in activity is driven by services (52.8 against 52.5 in January), the industrial sector remaining lagging even if it continues to show some signs of progression after the sharp contraction observed in 2019.
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