The pace of economic growth in the eurozone accelerated to the fastest so far this year in November. Rising order books meanwhile prompted firms to take on extra staff at the jointfastest rate since early-2008, and prices charged inched higher, indicating that inflationary pressures are at their highest for over five years.

The preliminary 'flash' Markit Eurozone PMI, based on approximately 85% of final survey replies, rose to 54.1, up from 53.3 in October. The latest reading signalled the strongest monthly increase in output since last December.

Identical rates of expansion were seen across both the manufacturing and service sectors, with the latter seeing the best expansion for 11 months. Although manufacturing output growth eased slightly, the rise was still the second-largest in 2016 so far, markit says.