Italian service providers endured a second month of falling activity in September. Incoming new business levels were unchanged, however, signalling little movement in the sector. Despite evidence of weak demand conditions, modest job creation was recorded, alongside stronger confidence towards the 12-month outlook. The headline index from the report, the HCOB Italy Services PMI® Business Activity Index remained fractionally below the 50.0 no-change mark in September at 49.9 and was little-changed compared to 49.8 in August. Overall, the latest data was indicative of a further fractional decrease in service sector ... (full story)