The recent strong growth of the euro area economy was maintained at the start of the final quarter of the year, driven by another marked improvement in new orders. Rising workloads encouraged firms to take on extra staff at the sharpest pace in over a decade.

The headline IHS Markit Eurozone PMI posted 55.9 in October, according to the preliminary 'flash' estimate (based on approximately 85% of final replies), down from 56.7 in September