July 05, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1428

BRUSSELS, July 4: Service sector activity in the 13 nations sharing the euro accelerated in June owning to booming business in France, Germany and Italy, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The eurozone purchasing managers index (PMI) for the service sector, compiled by the research group NTC Economics, rose to 58.3 points in June from 57.3 in May, in line with economists' forecast and an estimate from NTC Research.

“June's data indicate that the service sector is expanding at a pace well above the average seen over the nine-year history of the survey,” NTC Research said in a statement.

The increase was driven by strong activity in the eurozone's four biggest economies with the rate of expansion at a 12-month high in Germany, an 11-month high in Italy and a three-month high in France.

Economists said the survey's results pointed to strong activity in the months ahead in a sector that is a major employer in Europe.

“The final eurozone purchasing managers' survey confirmed that service sector activity was buoyant in June, with expansion largely healthy across the region,” said economist Howard Archer consultants Global Insight.

“Furthermore, strong incoming business and substantial backlogs of work point to further healthy expansion in the near term at least, while robust employment growth should be supportive to consumer spending,” he added. —AFP