European Services, Manufacturing Shrink for Third Month: Economy

Euro-area services and manufacturing output declined for a third month in April as the economy struggled to rebound from a fourth-quarter contraction.

A euro-area composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries fell to 47.4, a five-month low, from 49.1 in March, London-based Markit Economics said in an initial estimate today. Economists had forecast an increase to 49.3, according to the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.