Services sector activity in Italy declined in September for the fourth consecutive month and recorded the sharpest drop in more than two years. This is what emerges from the Markit/Adaci report whose “pmi” index relating to the services sector dropped to 45,8 points from 48,4 in August.
Instead, analysts' expectations had indicated a contraction to 47,3. The sub-index that refers to companies' future expectations in September decreased to its lowest since December 2008, at 54,4 points from the previous 60,2.
“The figure reflects both the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and austerity measures on the flow of new orders,” explained Phil Smith, economist at Markit.
