- Composite PMI 51.7 vs 51.6 prelim
A slightly better revision, which just serves to reaffirm a strong bounce in French services activity in February. The only downside to the report is that inflation pressures remain close to record highs. S&P Global notes that:
"France's service sector sprang back to growth in February. The expansion was solid and a marked turnaround when compared with the declines seen in January and at the back-end of 2022.
"Overall, the February PMI surveys are a net positive for the French economy. A solid expansion in services activity was sufficient to offset weakness on the manufacturing side. There was also evidence of improving underlying demand for services and suggestions that, despite eroding real incomes, private consumption and business expenditure is showing some resilience.
"February's PMIs will add conviction to no-recession calls. However, it will also justify the stance of monetary policy hawks within the ECB. Input costs rose sharply once again and the PMI here is proving to be stubborn. Notably, service sector companies raised their charges at the second-fastest rate on record in February. This suggests that pricing power remains strong for services firms."
