Summary

• The composite PMI increased from 48.5 to 49.5 in June.
• This still marks sluggish economic activity for the bloc, but the easing of price pressures indicated by the survey is encouraging.
• The combination of sluggish growth and fading inflation concerns marks a dovish reading for the ECB.

By Bert Colijn, Chief Economist, Netherlands

Despite most survey responses coming in before the Middle East deal was signed, the PMI had already ticked up a bit. But the increase to 49.5 would still indicate slightly declining