"The Eurozone recovery is looking increasingly broad-based, with more sectors and more countries emerging from recession "
- Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit
Fresh signs the 17-nation economy is on the path of sustain recovery emerged on Wednesday, as retail sales ticked up, services PMI expanded, and the gross domestic product returned to growth. Even though some figures were weaker-than-expected, the Eurozone has escaped a damaging 18-month recession. The area that has Euro in circulation and is home to about 340 million people expanded 0.3% in the three months to June, unchanged from the previous estimate, the Eurostat figures showed. The main pillars of growth were increased consumer and government spending; moreover, investment rose as well, while exports made a huge contribution.
In a separate report Markit Economics said the Eurozone services PMI eased to 50.7 in August, below analysts' expectations of 51.0 and down from July's 50; however, still showing an expansion in the sector. Moreover, the PMI Composite fell to 51.5, compared with the previous month's 50.5. Nevertheless, service sector businesses registered the first increase in business activity for almost two years. Furthermore, trade volumes at Eurozone retailers inched higher 0.1% in July, albeit also missing estimates. Annually, the Retail Sales Index tumbled 1.3% in the Eurozone and 0.3% in the broader European Union. Wednesday's results are suggesting growth, albeit still modest and the recovery is fragile, however it is spreading to some of the region's weaker countries.
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