BERLIN, November 6 (Reuters) – Activity in the service sector in Germany fell back into contraction territory in October amid persistent weakness in demand, final results of the monthly S&P Global/HCOB survey showed on Monday.
The services sector PMI fell from 50.3 in September to 48.2 in October, compared to an initial estimate of 48.0.
It is thus below the threshold of 50 which separates contraction and growth in activity.
The services sector’s performance continues to be undermined by the lack of new contracts, the S&P/HCOB survey indicates.
“This slowdown in new contracts has continued since July, so it looks like we are in for a tough few months,” commented Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank.
However, the impact on the labor market remained limited, with employment falling only very slightly.
The composite PMI index, which includes services and the manufacturing sector, fell to 45.9 in October from 46.4 in September.
“Higher interest rates, a new war in the Middle East and higher oil prices are not exactly the combination for a bright future,” Cyrus de la Rubia stressed. (Reporting Maria Martinez; French version Claude Chendjou, editing by Kate Entringer)
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