BY JONATHAN CABLE
LONDON — The euro zone economy flatlined for a second month in June, barely expanding as the bloc’s dominant services industry showed only a small sign of improvement and manufacturing displayed none at all, a survey showed on Monday.
HCOB’s preliminary composite euro zone Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good guide to growth, held steady this month at May’s 50.2.
That was barely above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction and below expectations in a Reuters poll for 50.5.
“June’s flash PMI survey for the euro zone was consistent with the economy flat-lining,” said Jack Allen-Reynolds at Capital Economics.
“The weakness in activity was broad-based, with the services index edging up to just 50.0 while the manufacturing index edged down.”
Business activity in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, returned to growth as its recovering manufacturing sector saw its strongest increase in new orders in more than three years.
But in France activity contracted further as weakness in both manufacturing and services hit the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, S&P Global said earlier on Monday.
In Britain, outside the currency union, business activity expanded modestly as new orders grew for the first time this year but employers cut jobs more quickly and worried about the conflict in the Middle East.
Overall demand in the bloc fell for a 13th month, albeit only mildly, with the new business index rising to 49.7 from 49.0.
