GERMAN DATA
Overall, the report showed improvements in activity and declining output charge price pressures, an optimistic combination in the eyes of the ECB.
Key notes from the release:
- "Growth continued to be driven by the service sector, which saw business activity rise for the third month running"..."The drag from the manufacturing sector meanwhile eased notably mid-way through the second quarter"
- "Growth was led by a solid and accelerated increase in new work across the service sector, which was partly buoyed by a first – albeit marginal – rise in new business from abroad for 12 months"
- "May’s increase in employment, which was broadly in line with the historical series average, owed exclusively to the service sector, with manufacturing workforce numbers declining at a solid rate that was little-changed from the previous month"
- "Business expectations towards activity in the year ahead improved considerably in May"
- "Average output prices rose at a modest rate that was the slowest rate for over three years and below the long-run trend. There remained a dichotomy between rising service sector output prices and falling factory gate charges"
- "Trends in output prices mirrored those of underling costs, with operating expenses in the services sector rising at the softest rate for three years (although still strongly by pre-pandemic standards) and manufacturers facing a further drop in purchase prices".
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