Euro zone business surged in July but price pressures and COVID weigh
LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone business activity raced ahead last month, expanding at its fastest pace in 15 years, as the lifting of more coronavirus restrictions and an accelerated vaccine drive injected life into the bloc’s dominant service industry, a survey showed.
FILE PHOTO: A steel worker of Germany’s industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG stands a mid of emitting sparks of raw iron from a blast furnace at Germany’s largest steel factory in Duisburg, Germany. Picture taken January, 28, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
But supply chain disruptions and labour shortages meant input prices surged at the fastest rate in over two decades and fears of further curbs to contain the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 from spreading hit optimism.
IHS Markit’s final composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), seen as a good gauge of economic health, climbed to 60.2 last month from June’s 59.5, its highest level…
