Madrid, May 6 (EFECOM).- The activity of the services sector in Spain showed “strong growth” in April and did so in a context of “improvement in market demand and economic conditions”, with a “notable increase ” of the workforce despite a “slower” increase in new orders.
The PMI index of commercial activity of the Spanish services sector by HCOB, prepared by S&P Global and published this Monday, marked 56.2 points in April, one tenth more than the previous month, the best result since May 2023 and above the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction.
Companies attributed the increase in activity to an improvement in new order volumes, which increased for the fifth consecutive month in April although at a slower pace than previous months due, in part, to weak external demand.
Regarding pending orders, they increased for the fourth consecutive month at a solid pace and as a result, companies hired additional workers, causing “overall employment to increase in April for the 19th consecutive month.”
In a statement, HCOB junior economist Jonas Feldhusen acknowledges that Spanish service companies “continuously impress with their results”, adding that “activity is driven by a situation of consistently high order volumes.”
Turning to the data, paid price inflation fell in April to its lowest level in nine months, although overall costs continued to rise sharply and at a historically high rate.
In this sense, companies reported that the increase in salaries was the main driver of the increase in operating costs, in addition to the prices charged by suppliers and energy costs. EFECOM
rco/ltm
