German service sector slows down
The pace of expansion in Germany's services sector slowed in November as financial firms took a beating, inflation pressures hit a 7-year high and confidence deteriorated, a survey showed yesterday.
The business activity gauge in NTC Research's Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 53.1 from October's 55.1, still well above the 50.0 divide between expansion from contraction but below the mid-range forecast of 53.5 in a Reuters poll.
November's expansion was the joint weakest since June 2005 for the sector, which includes companies from banks to catering and transport services.
As global markets succumbed to renewed concern in November about banking write-downs and a year-end credit crunch, NTC said German financial services business shrank for the first time since March 2003 and the contraction was the sharpest in five years.
The services sector also suffered from the sharpest rise in cost pressures since October 2000, mainly due to high energy prices, putting further pressure on profit margins.
German inflation accelerated to a near 14-year high in November.
Agencies
(China Daily 12/06/2007 page15)
