German services sector still on growth path in April -PMI

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s services sector remained on a strong recovery path in April, buoyed by robust demand after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, a survey showed on Wednesday.

S&P Global’s final services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)rose to 57.6 last month from 56.1 in March, reaching its highest value since August. The reading was slightly lower than a flash estimate of 57.9.

“The service sector is providing a much-needed boost to the German economy at a time when manufacturing is starting to falter under pressure from renewed supply chain disruption and cooling demand for goods,” said Phil Smith, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global.

The composite PMI index, which comprises both the services and manufacturing sectors, fell to 54.3 from 55.1 in March. The reading was lower than a flash figure of 54.5.

Smith said that while the services sector has carried strong momentum into the second quarter, the pace of growth was unsustainable.

Slowing activity in manufacturing is bound to act as a drag on the services sector, which also faces headwinds from rising prices that are squeezing wallets.

“While services is generally less exposed to the external headwinds impacting manufacturing, inflationary pressures are seeping through, with rates of increase in both input costs and output prices having soared to levels that far exceed anything we’ve seen in the history of the survey,” said Smith.

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Catherine Evans)