Eurozone job growth reaches nine-year high as economy maintains end-of-year momentum
Job creation in the Eurozone has reached its highest point since February 2008, before the global financial crisis caused unemployment to soar, according to a survey of managers.
France’s labour market created jobs at its fastest rate in a year and a half, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for industry in the Eurozone, while in Italy it reached a six-month high.
The index of economic growth showed output reaching a 10-month high in Ireland, which led the Eurozone at a reading of 59.3, almost four points above the average reading for the Eurozone as a whole. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the industry.
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The overall measure of 54.4 sustains the strong performance of the euro area economy from the end of last year. The manufacturing industry in particular has been surging, with Germany’s powerhouse economy driving growth.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said: “The final PMI indicated marginally stronger business activity growth than the earlier flash estimate, and suggests the eurozone economy is growing at the fastest rate since mid-2011."
Markit’s analysis shows the reading translating to a rise in GDP of 0.4 per cent over the quarter.
Williamson said: “Faster growth of new business and an upturn in confidence about the year ahead to the highest since the region’s debt crisis bodes well for the robust pace of growth to be sustained in coming months.”