BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The euro area private sector growth softened largely due to deepening downturn in manufacturing activity in July, final data from IHS Markit showed Monday.
The final composite output index fell to 51.5 in July from 52.2 in June. The reading came in line with the preliminary estimate.
The headline reading masked the notable divergence between the manufacturing and services sectors. The services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 53.2 in July from 53.6 in June. The flash reading was 53.3.
Trade war worries, slower economic growth, falling demand for business equipment, slumping auto sales and geopolitical concerns such as Brexit led the list of business woes, dragging manufacturing production lower at its fastest rate for over six years, Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit said.
The overall pace of expansion of GDP signaled by the PMI has slipped closer to 0.1 percent, Williamson added.
Latest composite data showed Germany expanding at its slowest rate for over six years. France performed best, but the rate of expansion was relatively subdued.
Driven by a deepening downturn in manufacturing output and slower service sector growth, Germany's final composite PMI fell to a 73-month low of 50.9 in July from 52.6 in June. This was also below the flash 51.4.
The services PMI logged a final reading of 54.5 in July, down from the flash 55.4 and June's nine-month high of 55.8.
Elsewhere, France's private sector expanded in July underpinned by solid increase in services activity. However, manufacturing output returned to contraction.
The final composite index came in at 51.9 in July compared to 52.7 in June. The flash score was 51.7.
The services PMI posted 52.6 in July versus 52.9 in June and the flash score of 52.2. Service sector output has now risen in five of the past six months.
Overall, the PMI surveys are consistent with the assessment that economic growth in the euro-zone will remain sluggish over the rest of this year and into 2020, Jack Allen-Reynolds, an economist at Capital Economics, said.
While Germany's economy is likely to grow in the second half of this year, the risk of a mild recession has risen, the economist noted.
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