Eurozone business activity has hit a seven-month high, prompting companies to hire more staff, according to a new survey.
Markit's composite flash purchasing managers' index for February hit 53.5, up from 52.6 in January. Any figure over 50 indicates expansion, while anything under 50 points to a contraction.
Companies are taking on new employees at the fastest rate since August 2011 to meet demand, while customer-facing service companies performed particularly well, outpacing growth in manufacturing output, Markit said.
Meanwhile, lower oil prices helped to cut input costs to many businesses across Europe.
Growth was observed in Europe's largest economies. Germany's
services sector growth more than cancelled out a slowdown in
manufacturing output growth, says BBC.
With growth at its fastest since August 2011, France saw its first upturn in business activity since April last year.
The Markit data suggests, however, that the eurozone begins to rely too much on service sector growth.
Europe is witnessing a "burgeoning recovery in service sector activity...in conjunction with a manufacturing sector that is essentially treading water," says RBC Capital Markets in a research note.
Greek crisis has had little effect on overall
eurozone output.
"Undeterred by the ongoing Greek debt crisis, economic growth is gathering momentum and looks set to gain further traction in coming months," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
