Italy May service sector growth eases slightly - PMI

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's services sector expanded in May but a slower pace compared with the previous month, a survey showed on Friday, with the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 restrictions enforced in China weighing on the outlook.

S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index for services declined to 53.7 in May from 55.7 in April, still above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

The reading came in below the median forecast of 54.5 in a Reuters survey of 14 analysts.

The sub-index for new business in the service sector stood at 54.8 in May compared to 56.0 in April.

Italy's service sector took longer to recover from COVID-19 lockdowns than the smaller manufacturing sector, which has seen growth for nearly two years.

The manufacturing PMI recorded its 23rd consecutive month of expansion in May, though it also slowed from the month before.

The composite Purchasing Managers' Index for services and manufacturing stood at 52.4 in May, down from 54.5 in April but still recording a 16th consecutive month of growth.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government in April revised down its 2022 economic growth forecast to 3.1% from a 4.7% projection made last September.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; editing by Gavin Jones and Toby Chopra)