Latest data released by Markit - 3 June 2020
- Prior 7.1
- Composite PMI 29.2 vs 29.0 expected
- Prior 9.2
Spanish business activity is seen improving relative to April but that's basically all about what you can conclude from the readings above. Looking at the details, new businesses and export sales continue to fall at historically severe rates last month.
Just be reminded that the headline services reading is based on a single question: "How is the volume of your business activity compared to one month ago?".
In that sense, a rebound from 7.1 to 27.9 only tells us that there are more businesses seeing things improving from April to May but overall conditions in May still remain highly subdued.
Markit notes that:
"Despite the easing of lockdown measures, economic activity in Spain remained severely curtailed during May. Whilst rising markedly from the extreme readings of April, latest PMI readings remain considerably low and confirm that the Spanish economy will likely experience a contraction in second quarter GDP pushing towards double digits.
"As constraints on activity continue to be lifted, the PMIs should continue to rise in the coming months and, hopefully, signal the start of recovery for Spain from the devastating downturn. Worries are, however, that continued job losses and ongoing pessimism amongst firms point to a long road ahead if we are to get back to levels of output close to those seen preCOVID-19."
