Business activity in the euro area grew at the fastest rate for nearly a year in April, according to provisional PMI survey data. The improvement indicates that the region continues to pull out of the recent downturn, albeit growing only modestly amid divergent sector performances. Increasingly robust service sector growth was nevertheless accompanied by signs of a further moderation of the manufacturing downturn. Jobs growth also accelerated as business confidence remained elevated by recent standards.

Although service sector output grew for a third successive month, with the rate of increase having gained momentum to register the fastest rise for 11 months, manufacturing output fell across the eurozone for a thirteenth straight month in April to act as a drag on the overall economy. The rate of decline in factory output eased, however, to the weakest for 12 months.

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