Mumbai, Feb. 4 -- The upturn in Germany's service sector continued into the new year, albeit with the rate of business activity growth easing to its lowest since last September, the latest HCOB PMI survey results showed.
Firms reported improved demand conditions and were much more optimistic about the outlook than the month before. Even so, January saw a renewed decline in employment across the services economy, with workforce numbers falling at the joint-quickest rate since the pandemic.
Firms meanwhile faced a sharp increase in costs and raised output charges accordingly. The rates of input and output price inflation were the highest recorded since early 2025.
The headline HCOB Germany Services PMI Business Activity Index is based on a...