French service sector growth remains elevated in April
Staff Writer |
The French service sector continued it‟s strong performance at the start of the second quarter, with business activity growth accelerating from March and remaining among the sharpest seen since 2011.
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New business wins and employment also rose at sharper rates during April, and fed through to another strong degree of business confidence.
Inflationary pressures weakened further, with input and output prices both rising to the weakest extent in eight months.
The headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index posted 57.4 in April.
Up from March?s seven-month low of 56.9, the latest index reading highlighted another marked expansion and one that was above the long-run average (54.7).
An increase in services sector activity was evident in five of the six broad sectors monitored by the survey, led by Post & Telecommunications companies.
"Other" Services was the only category to see a decline over the month.
The final seasonally adjusted IHS Markit France Composite Output Index – which covers the combined manufacturing and service sectors – posted 56.9 in April, up from a reading of 56.3 in March.
Supporting service sector activity growth was a further rise in new business, the twenty-sixth in as many months.
The rate of increase was broadly unchanged from the prior month and, despite remaining firmly below January?s recent peak, was marked overall.
As was the case with business activity, the sharpest expansion was registered by Post & Telecommunications companies.
The rate of new order growth was unchanged on a composite basis, as the slight acceleration of growth at service providers was offset by a slowdown at manufacturers.
Buoyed by strong client demand, French service providers took on additional staff members in April, thereby extending the current period of job creation to 16 months.
Moreover, the rate of growth quickened from March and was only slightly weaker than last November?s multi-year peak.
Firms generally cited higher workloads as the main reason to boost staffing numbers.
Sharper rises in employment numbers were recorded across the service and manufacturing sectors.
Backlogs of unfinished work in the French service sector rose for the twenty-sixth consecutive month in April.
The rate of accumulation eased to a six-month low but remained strong.
Post & Telecommunication companies noted the sharpest rise. ■