MADRID (dpa-AFX) - Spain's services sector expansion eased for the second straight month in May, albeit modestly, amid slower growth in new business and employment, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Wednesday.
The purchasing managers' index, or PMI, for the services sector fell to 52.8 in May from 53.1 in April. Economists had expected a score of 52.6.
Any reading above 50 indicates an expansion in the sector.
Exports declined for the second time in the past three months in May. Growth in new work slowed, and the employment level increased at a weaker pace.
Labor cost, transportation prices and operation expenses increased at a faster pace in May. Meanwhile, inflation was modest and at the weakest since October last year.
Business confidence about the future rose only slightly in May, remaining close to April's sixty-eight-month low.
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