-Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit
A set of red numbers came out on Thursday from the Euro zone's member states as fundamentals appeared to be worse than expected. Manufacturing activity in the 19-nation region continued to rise in April, albeit at a slower pace, as the flash manufacturing PMI for the Euro area fell to 51.9 points in the current month, down from 52.2 in March and compared with economists' expectations for a reading of 52.6 points. A closely watched composite PMI declined to 53.5 from 54.0 in March, while analysts had anticipated a rise to 54.4. In the Euro area's number one economy, Germany, preliminary data showed that the activity growth in the manufacturing sector continued at a somewhat slower pace, with the manufacturing PMI falling to 51.9, while the services sector also showed a slightly slow activity, with the corresponding indicator booking 54.4 points in April. In France, the Euro zone's second biggest economy, manufacturing activity remained sluggish in April and failed to enter into positive territory. The flash manufacturing PMI came in at 48.4 in the reported month, worse than the 48.8 recorded in March, and against expectations of 49.2. Meanwhile, business activity in France's services sector remained in expansion in April, with the flash services PMI declining to 50.8 from the 52.4 seen in March. Elsewhere in Spain, unemployment data showed a small uptick, as the jobless rate climbed to 23.78% in the first quarter compared with 23.70% in the preceding three month period.
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