LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Global services and manufacturing activity contracted even faster in February and data suggests the first quarter of 2009 may be as bad as the end of 2008, JP Morgan said on Wednesday.
The Global Total Output Index, produced by JP Morgan with research and supply management organisations, fell to 38.4 in February from 40.3 in January, well below the 50.0 mark that divides growth from contraction.
"The fallback in the headline activity index raises the possibility of the global downturn remaining as deep in Q1 2009 as the sharp decline in GDP seen at the end of last year," said David Hensley, a director at JP Morgan.
The global service sector indicator remained in negative territory for the ninth consecutive month, sinking to 39.8 in February from 43.0 the month before, as rates of contraction accelerated in the U.S., the euro zone and Australia.
Earlier on Wednesday the ISM index covering the U.S. non-manufacturing sector, which accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. economic activity, showed the sector shrank further in February, but by less than expected.
The 16-nation euro zone's dominant service sector sank still deeper into recession during February as new business levels plummeted and firms slashed jobs, but in China and the UK it may have hit the bottom, earlier data suggested.
The index combines data from countries including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia. (For a TABLE see [ID:L4896616])
(Reporting by Jonathan Cable)