BERLIN (Reuters) – German business conditions continued to deteriorate in November, although more slowly than recently, with Markit’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index inching up to a three-month high of 49.2, the index provider said on Friday.

Markit’s survey of the manufacturing and services sectors showed that the mood in Europe’s largest economy was still gloomy, with the services sector PMI, which had long offset the manufacturing slowdown, slipping to a 38-month low of 51.3 from 51.6 in October.

But there were chinks of light: foreign orders, which are crucial to Germany’s export-dependent economy, were falling more slowly, while business confidence had turned positive for the first time in four months, though it was still low by historical standards.

“While still showing a degree of resilience, the service sector is growing only modestly and at its slowest rate for over three years,” said Markit’s Phil Smith.

“By contrast, manufacturing remains firmly in contraction, but many of the indicators here are at least moving in the right direction and it would seem the worst of the downturn is over barring any shocks,” he added.

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