The growth of euro area activity has lost momentum in October, although it is at the peaks of the last three years, with new requests growing more slowly and employment stabilised due to worse prospects.
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23/10/2026
by
Lusa
O growth of euro area activity lost momentum in october, although it is at the peaks of the last three years, with new requests growing more slowly and employment stabilised due to worse prospects.
The PMI index (Purchasing Managers’ Index) composed of the total activity of the euro area, prepared by S&P Global and published today, stood in October at 51.9 points, below the September data (53.1 points) and again above the 50-point barrier that separates the growth from contraction.
The October Index records a minimum of the last four months, but “it remains one of the best results observed in the last three years,” according to S&P’s chief economist Global Market Intelligence, Chris Williamson.
One of the main brakes for growth was a new fall in total activity in the French service sector, which may be related to strikes and disturbances that disturbed some local economies, although growth has also slightly decreased in the rest of the euro area.
Thus, weakening was evident both in the manufacturing industry and in the services sector, while new requests increased in October at the slower pace in four months and requests from abroad rose for the third consecutive month.
The level of employment remained virtually unchanged in October, the statement states, in which it is detailed that the rate of job creation in the services sector decreased to a minimum by five months, while employment in the manufacturing industry decreased after two months to improve.
The companies interviewed in the manufacturing industry indicated an acute and accelerated increase in production factor prices in October, which often associated with an increase in energy, fuel and transport costs, being the most pronounced since May and above the average of the year.
With regard to the future, the confidence of European entrepreneurs has decreased to a minimum in five months and optimism has fallen with particular intensity in the manufacturing industry.
However, the pessimism prevailing in France due to political instability and uncertainty contrasted with the positive feeling in the other countries.