Despite new outbreaks of COVID-19, business growth in Europe rose this month, accelerating at a faster than expected rate.
IHS Markit's Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, an indicator of overall economic health, jumped to 55.8 in November from 54.2 in October. That exceeded a forecast of economists surveyed by the Reuters News Agency which had predicted a drop to 53.2.
Anything above a reading of 50 indicates economic growth.
However, a rising number of COVID-19 infections and new restrictions, alongside price pressures, are likely to put a dent in December's expansion in the European zone.
Growth in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, accelerated slightly but persistent supply bottlenecks in manufacturing continued to weigh on factory output and pushed up inflationary pressures to unprecedented highs, the economic data showed.
French business activity also expanded faster than expected, initial estimates showed, as the services sector of the Euro zone's second-biggest economy saw its quickest growth in almost four years.
British businesses reported the fastest growth in new orders since June alongside record cost pressures, possibly paving the way for the Bank of England to raise interest rates as soon as December.
Supply bottlenecks caused by the pandemic have made it a seller's market for raw materials and the composite input prices index surged to 75.9 from 73.2, by far the highest reading since the survey began in mid-1998.
Manufacturing activity remained robust and the factory PMI rose to 58.6 in November from 58.3 in October. An index measuring output, which feeds into the composite PMI, increased to 53.8 from 53.3 month-over-month.
The latest growth measurements cast some doubt on the European Central Bank's claim that the rise in inflation is transitory. European zone inflation expectations are at risk of continuing to overshoot the central bank's 2% target next year.
