The euro zone economy got off to a bad start in the second half of the year, with growth in services sector activity cooling

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 euro zone made a bad start in the second half of this year.

The PMI data showed that economic output fell in July after stagnating in the previous month and showing solid growth overall in the first five months of this year.

The decline in economic activity was driven by manufacturing, but growth in services sector activity also cooled, weakening support for the broader economy.

Given the gloomy economic outlook, job growth is likely to stall in the coming months.

However, at least for now, companies remain rather reluctant to cut service sector workers, opting instead to hire fewer.