MADRID, March 1 (Reuters) - Factory activity in Spain
expanded in February for the first time since June as demand
started to improve, boosting confidence about the business
outlook, a survey showed on Wednesday.
S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Spanish
manufacturing rose to 50.7 in February, from 48.4 in January,
above the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction for
the first time since it stood at 52.6 in June last year.
Confidence about the future among business people surveyed
was at its highest level since April 2022, S&P Global said.
Spanish economic growth is expected to slow this year. The
government has forecast 2.1% growth in 2023, down from 5.5% in
2022, while many analysts expect growth to be even slower.
The weak spot in the survey was inflationary pressure, which
remained "stubborn", according to S&P Global.
"Despite remaining significantly softer than rates seen over
much of the past two-and-a-half years, the paces of input cost
and output charge inflation strengthened on the month," it said.
Spain's headline 12-month inflation rate, which had been
falling since peaking in July, rose to 6.1% in February.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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