Markit released purchasing managers’ indices for the month of May. The Spanish figure made a nice rise from 44.4 to 47.3 points, defying expectations of a more moderate rise to 45.3 points.
No, this is still under the 50 line that separates contraction from growth, but nevertheless, there are a few reasons to be optimistic:
- Other euro-zone services PMIs didn’t jump: Italy disappointed with a slide from 47 to 46.5, lower than 47.5 expected. Germany and France saw a release of final data, that didn’t shine, and the final PMI for the whole euro-zone was actually revised to the downside: from 47.5 to 47.2 points. Spain’s Services PMI is now marginally above the euro-zone average.
- More improvement: This figure joins a better than expected number in the manufacturing PMI. Also here, contraction is slower.
- Job figures, even if part of a “summer effectâ€, are still relatively good: a non-seasonally adjusted drop of 98.3K or nearly 2% in the number of unemployed people.
Spain is the euro-zone’s fourth largest economy and was often in the limelight of the debt crisis, making data from the country increasingly important.
Further reading:Â Shadow of Spain and Italy looms over the Euro zone
