Euro zone services sector activity mixed, ECB decision more challenging

Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist of Hamburg Commercial Bank, commented on the final value of the PMI of the service industry in the euro zone in July: the development of the service industry in the euro zone is very diverse.

While French service companies have stopped expanding, Spanish company activity is still growing at a fairly healthy rate, although it has slowed considerably since the first quarter.

Spanish companies are still hiring, while Italian companies have started laying off workers. The contrasting economic performance has made the ECB‘s already difficult job even more challenging.