Euro-Area Business Activity Shows Bloc May Dodge Recession

  • Composite PMI rises to 50.2, first time over 50 since June
  • S&P Global says region is ‘by no means out of the woods yet’
Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
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The private-sector economy in the euro area unexpectedly returned to growth at the start of 2023, offering further signs the region may avoid a recession and comforting the European Central Bank’s focus on underlying inflation risks.

S&P Global’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.2 in January, better than the 49.8 reading predicted in a Bloomberg survey and the first time since June that the gauge was above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction.