France: Private-sector activity stabilizes in April
The seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) landed at the 50.0-point threshold in April, ticking up from 48.9 points in March and signaling a stabilization of private-sector activity.
April’s steadying saw services-sector activity offset a fall in manufacturing output. New orders, including exports, continued to contract; employment ticked up, however. Optimism, meanwhile, hit a nine-month high amid fewer ‘gilets jaunes’ protests.