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Eurozone PMI rises to 54.1 points in November

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

The eurozone composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 54.1 points in November, up from 53.3 in October, according to a report released by business data monitoring company Markit on Wednesday.

"The preliminary PMI results for November indicate the sharpest monthly increase in business activity so far this year, with plenty of signs that growth will continue to accelerate," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 represents contraction.

Same expansions were also seen across the manufacturing and service sectors in November, with 34-month high and 11-month high respectively.

Germany, the region's largest economy, saw the rate of business activity growth dipping slightly but remaining well above the recent low seen in September.

France is also seen a pickup in growth, with the PMIs signalling GDP growth of 0.2-0.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

Markit stressed the uncompleted orders showing the largest rise since May 2011. Increasing numbers of firms are boosting capacity as a result of the order book backlog, leading to the joint-largest increase in employment since the global financial crisis.

Led by price rises in the manufacturing sector, prices for goods and services rose for the first time since August of last year.

"Average prices charged for good and services showed the biggest rise for over five years, albeit with the rate of increase being very modest. However, with indicators such as rising backlogs of work and longer supplier delivery times suggesting demand is exceeding supply, price pressures look set to intensify further in coming months," said Chris Williamson.

The economist added that policymakers in the European Central Bank (ECB) would be pleased to see inflationary pressures are intensifying steadily.

The inflation in the 19-member eurozone rose to 0.5 percent in October 2016, reaching a two-year high. However, the figure is still far from ECB's two percent target. Endtiem