LONDON, Feb 3 Reuters Euro zone economic growth lost more momentum in January as the bloc39;s dominant services industry suffered from subdued demand amid tighter restrictions to contain the Omicron coronavirus variant, a survey showed.

Some governments in the currency union have been encouraging citizens to stay at home to try and stop the more virulent variant from spreading while steep price rises, caused in part by supply and labour issues, have also kept demand in check.

IHS Markit39;s final Composite Purchasing Managers39; Index, seen as good guide to overall economic health, dropped to 52.3 in January from 53.3 in December, its lowest since February last year and just below the 52.4 preliminary estimate.

The euro zone economy has slowed further in January after seeing growth weaken in the final quarter of 2021, said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

The slowdown coincides with virusfighting containment measures having been tightened to the highest since last May across the euro zone amid the surge in COVID19 cases linked to Omicron.

Those measures had a particular impact on the services industry and its PMI fell to a ninemonth low of 51.1 from December39;s 53.1.

Demand growth almost dried up, and the services new business index sank to 51.3 from 52.5, its lowest since April and not far above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.

Consumers have seen prices rising sharply in recent months and January was no exception. With…