Spanish service sector sees weakest fall in activity in two years
The Spanish services sector is looking better, with a rise from 47.8 to 48.5. That's slightly ahead of forecasts, with analysts predicting a rise to 48.2.
While still below 50, the sector can still be seen as contracting, but the pace of that contraction has slowed down a little. This is the slightest fall in activity in two years.
Andrew Harker, senior economist at Markit and author of the report said:
The Spanish service sector came close to a change of momentum in July, with the rate of contraction in activity easing further during the month. Should this current trend be built upon, we could be in line to see a return to growth of GDP by the end of the year. This remains far from assured, however, with service providers continuing to highlight the effects of the economic crisis in their responses to the latest survey.