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That
is likely to disappoint the European Central Bank, which is
battling to get inflation even close to its target, as will the
survey's finding that factories held prices in May after raising
them in April for the first time in eight months.
To restore economic growth and combat deflation, the ECB started
buying around 60 billion euros a month of mainly government
bonds in March and the survey suggested it is having at least
some effect.
Markit's final May manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
was 52.2, below a preliminary flash reading of 52.3 but just
ahead of April's 52.0. It was the 23rd month it has been above
the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
"The rate of growth is modest rather than spectacular, however,
and there are clearly countries which continue to struggle,"
said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.
"Weakness is centered in the region's core, with France's
manufacturing sector still in decline and Germany only seeing
very meager growth."
Earlier factory PMIs from Germany and France were 51.1 and 49.4
respectively.
New business across the bloc came in at its fastest rate for
over a year, however, driven by export demand as consumers took
advantage of a weaker euro making goods cheaper. A new orders
sub-index jumped to a 13-month high of 52.7 from 51.8.
That meant the output index, which feeds into a composite PMI
due on Wednesday and seen as a good growth indicator, only
dipped slightly to 53.3 from April's 53.4. The flash reading was
53.5.
-Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Markit
and customers need to apply to Markit for a license.
((Editing by Catherine Evans)
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