Mumbai, March 3 -- The euro area's manufacturing sector remained in contraction during February, but a two-year high in the headline HCOB PMI signalled that the industrial downturn was at its least severe since early-2023.
In fact, factory production came close to stabilising, with reductions in new orders - both total and from abroad - at their softest in nearly three years.
Companies became less aggressive with pre-production inventory and purchasing cutbacks, while manufacturing growth expectations were among their most optimistic since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022.
That said, factory job losses intensified, with employment falling at its fastest rate in four-and-a-half years.
Input cost inflation also...