Latest data released by Markit - 3 July 2020
- Prior 27.9
- Composite PMI 49.7 vs 45.4 expected
- Prior 29.2
As lockdown measures are lifted, the Spanish economy appears to be getting back on track but again just be mindful about reading too much into the services component.
The headline reading is derived from just one key question i.e. how is business activity doing this month compared to last month?
As such, what this tells us is that more firms are reporting better conditions in June relative to May but it still doesn't give much impression about the overall situation.
Markit notes that:
"Spain's services economy stabilised during June, with output and new work both returning to growth following the unprecedented collapse seen earlier in the quarter.
"However, despite the clear improvement in the PMI numbers - in line with the easing of lockdown measures and the broad reopening of economic activities - in the context of previous data, June's survey indicates a muted recovery so far. Firms signalled that customer numbers remain well down and they are operating with a considerable degree of excess capacity at their units.
"This leads to inevitable cost pressures, especially as workers return from furlough, and led to another round of noticeable employment cuts across the sector in June."
