cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/36401278
Euro zone businesses saw new orders increase in August for the first time since May 2024, helping overall activity expand at the fastest pace in 15 months despite persistent weakness in exports.
The HCOB Eurozone Composite PMI [Purchasing Manager Index] rose to 51.1 in August of 2025 from 50.9 in the previous month, beating market expectations of a slowdown to 50.7 to mark the sharpest pace of expansion in the bloc's private sector output since May of the previous year, according to a flash estimate.
[A PMI is diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions are expanding, which is indicated by a number >50 - or contracting, suggested by a PMI <50.]
The growth was supported by a third straight expansion in the services sector (50.7 vs 51) and an unexpected rebound for manufacturers (50.5 vs 49.8), their first in over three years. New orders at the aggregate level increased for the first time in 14 months, despite a reduction in new export orders.
The signal of new capacity demand drove firms to increase their headcounts for the sixth straight month.
[...]
The UK S&P Global Composite PMI rose also to 53 in August of 2025 from 51.5 in the previous month, ahead of expectations that it would inch higher to 51.6 to set the sharpest growth rate in private-sector business activity in one year, according to a flash estimate. The expansion was carried by the services sector (53.6 vs 51.8 in July), which also rose to a one-year high, to offset a steeper contraction for service providers (47.3 vs 48).
The strong momentum for services in the UK drove new business volumes at the aggregate level to rise the most since October of last year, even though factories recorded the strongest decline ne new work since April, pressured by economic headwinds of higher input costs and a global protectionist swing to goods trade. Input inflation was at the highest since May, with firms citing the burden of higher National Insurance payments and their impact in labor costs.
Looking forward, business expectations for the upcoming year increased.