Growth in the euro zone service sector eased in August as high oil prices putting pressure on margins.
The NTC Research Eurozone Business Activity Index slipped to 53.3 in August, in line with the consensus forecast, from 53.5 in July. The index stayed above the 50 line between growth and
Chris Williamson, chief economist at NTC
contraction for a 26th month.
On a national level, the service sector shrank in Italy, stagnated in Spain and grew at a slower, albeit still robust, pace in France. But Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, helped to prop up the overall index by putting in its best performance in 19 months.
"Without Germany seeing its improvement in growth, we would have seen a much stronger downturn," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at NTC. But he added that despite a slight fall on the month, the data pointed to an improvement in the euro zone economy in the current quarter compared to the previous three months.
Such growth would be strong enough to allow the European Central Bank to leave rates on hold at 2 per cent for the time being, in line with economists' expectations.
For the euro zone as a whole, the prices charged index showed contraction for the fifth month, and the input prices index rose to a 10-month high of 59.7.
The euro zone employment index edged up to 50.8 from July's 50.4, pointing to marginal levels of job creation.