August flash services PMI 51.7 vs 51.5 expectedPrior 51.7August flash manufacturing PMI 52.8 vs 51.8 expectedPrior 51.9August flash composite PMI 52.1 vs 51.7 expectedPrior 52.0After the misses from France and Germany, this is a bit of a surprise - especially the services sector estimate. The pace of expansion in the services sector was unchanged from July but comes in better than what we saw from Europe's two largest economies, with growth outside of the region picking up considerably. Who needs France and Germany eh?Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector also performed well with the index there climbing to a 51-month high as manufacturing output hits a 54-month high in August.All in all, a further rise in both output and new orders with a first expansion in new export business in roughly four-and-a-half years is helping to bolster private sector activity in Q2. That will help to ease any further stagflation concerns for the ECB, even if France and Germany in particular are likely to come under more scrutiny in the months ahead.Looking to price pressures, input cost inflation eased to the weakest sinceFebruary but remained sharp and was still some way above the levels seen before the Middle East conflict started. So, there's that.S&P Global notes that:"A sustained solid rise in business activity in August setsthe eurozone up for a robust increase in third quarter GDPof around 0.3%. The manufacturing sector is again the starperformer, enjoying its strongest growth for four-and-a-halfyears, with the services economy providing a supportingrole, notching up another month of decent growth after themalaise seen in the second quarter.“We are again seeing reports of precautionary stock buildinghelping support the goods-producing sector amid theongoing supply chain disruptions emanating out of the MiddleEast, with supply chain delays again remaining worryinglywidespread in August. However, there are also encouragingsigns of rising demand for AI-related tech goods and risingequipment demand thanks to higher defence spending,notably helping Germany in particular achieve increasinglyimpressive production gains.“In the service sector, rising tourism spending is helping boosteconomic growth, notably outside of France and Germany,where the region collectively saw the fastest services growthfor over three years.“Although high prices reportedly continue to dampendemand, price pressures have shown signs of further easing.Policymakers will be especially encouraged to see servicesselling price inflation back down to the joint-lowest sofar this year (alongside March), with goods price inflationalso continuing to moderate. However, with the flash PMIsignalling solid third quarter GDP growth, a return to hiring bycompanies for the first time this year, and inflation remainingelevated by historical standards, a hawkish bias is likely to bemaintained and further imminent rate hikes cannot be ruledout.” This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.