Euro Area private sector shrinks the most in three years in October

Private sector activity in the Euro Area registered a fifth consecutive month of contraction in October and also the steepest decline since November 2020, as both the manufacturing and services sectors continued to shrink.

Euro Area’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was reported at a preliminary 46.5 in October, falling from a final reading of 47.2 in September and missing market estimates of 47.4.

Excluding the pandemic period, the contraction in activity has been the deepest since March 2013. New orders decreased the most since May 2020 and, in case early pandemic months are excluded – the most since May 2009, Markit Economics said.

The bloc’s services sector activity contracted for a third consecutive month in October and also the most since February 2021. Euro Area’s Services PMI came in at a preliminary 47.8 in October, down from a final 48.7 in September and also below market consensus of 48.7.

Meanwhile, Germany’s private sector remained within the contraction area for the fourth straight month in October. The HCOB Germany Composite PMI came in at a preliminary 45.8 in October, down from 46.4 in September.

Overall inflows of new business shrank at the steepest rate since May 2020, backlogs of work dropped again and the pace of job losses accelerated compared to September.

German Manufacturing PMI improved to a five-month high of 40.7 in October from 39.6 in September. Still, the index pointed to a deep contraction in activity.

The country’s services sector entered the contraction area again in October, following a slight expansion in the prior month, preliminary figures showed. The Services PMI came in at a level of 48 in October, down from 50.3 in September.

The Euro was last edging down 0.25% on the day against the US Dollar, with the EUR/USD currency pair trading at 1.0642. The pair pulled back from a 1-month high of 1.0694.