The eurozone's economy has "likely bottomed out" after suffering a disastrous collapse under lockdowns to contain the new coronavirus, a closely watched survey by IHS Markit said Thursday.

People wearing face masks walk in front of a big Euro sign in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, as the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarter can be seen in the background on April, 24, 2020 amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: AFP)

Contraction across the 19 EU nations using the euro continued in May for the third straight month, but "the rate of decline eased as parts of the economy started to emerge from lockdowns," it said in the  purchasing managers' index (PMI).

The index for May came in at 30.5 points, well above the catastrophic 13.5 recorded in April -- but still well below the 50-point threshold between contraction and expansion.