Well the service sector in Italy growing in April at the fastest pace in the last ten months. Above all, the increase in new businesses has given an acceleration. The Markit/Adaci Business Activity Index for services it went up to 53,1 in April compared to 51,6 in March, well above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction.
According to a Reuters poll, the figure is clearly above the expectations of analysts who were aiming for an average reading of 52,0. Very positive the sub-index for new jobs rose to 55,0 from 53,1 in March, to a 10-month high. In response to growing demand, companies have been hiring at the fastest pace since November 2007, Markit said. Phil Smith, author of the Markit/Adaci Pmi Servizi in Italia report comments on the data: “At the start of the second quarter, the growth of the Italian private sector economy really kicked into gear, with a sharp increase in service sector activity follows the upward trend observed in manufacturing. It is encouraging to know that the strong increase in new orders is behind all this, indicating a strengthening in demand and increasing the probability that the recovery will maintain that momentum”.
For the PMI services index of the Eurozone for the month of April it stood at 54,1, recording an increase in production in the tertiary sector for the twenty-first consecutive month. The reading was also higher than the previous flash estimate of 53,7 and the market consensus.
