German business activity picks up in March, with inflation falling but still high due to services price pressures

March’s ‘flash’ PMI® data from S&P Global showed a second consecutive monthly increase in business activity across the German private sector, with the rate of growth accelerating though remaining only modest overall. The pace of job creation likewise picked up, though firms were a little less optimistic about the year-ahead outlook. Output price inflation meanwhile remained elevated due to stubbornly high pressures in the service sector. It did however ease to a near two-year low amid an increased drag from manufacturing, where the decline in input prices deepened and supplier delivery times shortened at an