France PMI Manufacturing rose to 51.5 in January, up from 51.5, a 6-month high and beat expectation of 50.8. PMI services. on the other hand, dropped to 46.5, down from 49.1, missed expectation of 48.3. PMI Composite dropped to 47.0, down from 49.5.
Eliot Kerr, Economist at IHS Markit said: “The French private sector started the new year as it ended the last, with COVID-19 restrictions driving a further decline in business activity. However, there were one big positive to be gleaned from the latest PMI data, and that was the return of employment growth. The fact that firms have returned to recruitment activity points to some confidence in an economic recovery in the second half of this year. That confidence was also evident in the broader expectations figures, which were only slightly off December’s 11-month high.
