The efficiency gain was seen across both the manufacturing and service sectors.
From a country perspective, higher workforce efficiency was driven by gains in Germany, while Italy and France both reported further declines.
The seasonally adjusted Eurozone Productivity PMI rose from 50.2 in January to 50.5 in February, signalling the strongest improvement in labour market efficiency since March 2018.
The latest reading also extended the current trend of rising productivity to three months.
Survey data showed efficiency gains reported by both goods producers and service providers across the eurozone, with the former signalling the first rise in productivity for two years, albeit only marginal.
The service sector meanwhile continued to indicate a marginal pace of improvement.
Germany was the sole contributor to growth of combined eurozone productivity, with workforce efficiency rising at a level not seen for two years.
That said, the rate of increase was modest and remained below its long-run average.
German productivity gains reflected labour efficiency growth in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
The rise in factory productivity accelerated for a second successive month during February, with the rate of increase the fastest since February 2018.
This was primarily driven by the rate of decrease in employment outweighing that for production.
In the service sector, output per head increased for a second month running and at the fastest pace for nearly a year, albeit one that was marginal overall.
Workforce efficiency across France’s private sector worsened further midway through the first quarter as the pace of job creation continued to exceed the gain in output.
However, the rate of deterioration eased slightly from January and was marginal overall.
The slowdown stemmed primarily from a softer decline in manufacturing productivity, in fact the softest since September 2019.
The downturn seen among service providers remained slight.
Italian private sector productivity meanwhile continued to fall in February, marking the third successive month of declining workforce efficiency.
The latest rate of deterioration was the same as in January and marginal overall.
Goods producers in Italy recorded a seventh consecutive worsening of productivity, with the pace of deterioration accelerating to the fastest since last April.
The pace of contraction in production continued to run faster than the reduction of factory jobs.
In the service sector, efficiency gains were recorded for a second month in a row during February.
Despite being marginal, the rate of increase picked up to the fastest for ten months. ■