February saw the upturn in Germany's service sector regain momentum as business activity growth ticked up to a four-month high, buoyed by stronger demand, the latest HCOB PMI® survey results showed. However, despite firms recording a first – albeit marginal – increase in backlogs for four months and continuing to report strong optimism towards growth prospects, there was another solid decrease in service sector employment midway through the opening quarter. The latest data showed persistent strong cost pressures facing services firms, albeit with the rate of inflation ticking down slightly since January. Average ... (full story)