'A taste of things to come': Italian services activity plunges to 11-year low as national lockdown weighs
Italy's service sector ground to a virtual halt in March, reflecting the strict national lockdown imposed by the government to contain the coronavirus outbreak. fell by nearly 35 points in March to 17.4 — an 11-year low — as activity slumped compared to February. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity, while a reading below 50 suggests a contraction.
The services reading indicates an "extremely challenging time for the Italian economy" as it's the lowest number recorded since the global financial crisis, IHS Markit said. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, Italy's economy was already wobbling in the fourth quarter of 2019 with its gross domestic productLewis Cooper, an economist at IHS Markit, expects the impact to be felt for a long time as "sentiment with regards to activity over the coming 12 months plummeted to the lowest level on record."
More positively, analysts at Bank of America say the spread of Covid-19 is slowing and lockdowns should be eased from the middle of the second quarter. Relaxing containment measures could allow for improvement in services activity, but BofA analysts still assume that Euro area PMIs will remain below 50 until August, they said in a research note on Friday.
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