The eurozone economy continued to expand at a broadly steady pace in August. The rate of increase edged down to a 19-month low, however, mainly due to a weaker rate of expansion in Germany. The final Markit Eurozone PMI® Composite Output Index posted 52.9 in August, down from 53.2 in July and below the earlier flash estimate of 53.3.

The rate of growth in new order inflows was also the weakest in just over one-and-half years. August data indicated that rates of output expansion ticked lower in both the manufacturing and service sectors. Manufacturing production rose at the slowest pace since May, while the expansion in service sector business activity was the jointweakest since the start of 2015. National PMI data indicated that the slowdown was mainly due to weaker economic growth in Germany, as output in the eurozone's largest nation rose at the slowest pace for 15 months.