The Eurozone private sector expanded at the fastest pace since June 2011, but the rate of expansion was slightly slower than initially estimated, final data from Markit Economics showed Wednesday. The composite output index rose to 52.9 in January from 52.1 in December. The flash reading was 53.2. Nonetheless, the index stayed above the neutral 50-mark for the seventh successive month. Likewise, the services Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 51.6 from 51 a month ago. The score remained below the flash estimate of 51.9. The overall upturn was led by the manufacturing sector, where accelerated growth of both total new orders and new export business drove the rate of expansion in production to a near three-year record. In comparison, the recovery in services was subdued. "We should expect GDP forecasts for 2014 to start being revised up if the PMI continues to rise, with the consensus of 1.0% growth already looking somewhat conservative," Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said.

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