With unease over euro strength hanging in the air on the Governing Council, it is uncertain whether even the strongest of economic numbers would be enough to boost the euro.

The Final manufacturing PMI came in at 57.4, in line with economist expectations and the earlier Flash Manufacturing survey, both of which had pointed to a steady number for the recent month.

August’s number represents a notable gain from July’s 56.6 reading and was driven by strength in several core eurozone countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.

“The survey indicates that euro area manufacturing output is growing at an annual rate of approximately 4%. Producers across the region are benefitting from rising domestic demand as economic recoveries gain momentum, as well as surging export sales,” says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

The euro to US dollar exchange rate slipped 0.17% during early trading in London Friday, for bids and offers to be accepted around the 1.1884 level, while the euro to pound exchange rate edged 0.05% lower to 0.9200.

EUR/USD is now 100 points below the 1.1982 level it opened at on Wednesday and substantially below the 1.2060 peak observed in the Tuesday session.

The subdued performance of the common currency Friday has been credited to a report of unease on the ECB’s governing council over the recent strength of the euro, out Thursday, which also helped deepen the euro correction during that session.

“We expect the ECB next Thursday to prepare the ground for a tapering decision in late October. The Riksbank will probably leave policy rates and the rate path unchanged. Exchange rate considerations are important for both central banks,” says Holger Sandte, an economist at Nordea.

The report followed August inflation numbers that showed energy prices driving headline inflation higher while core price pressures, which ignore changes in the price of energy and food, remaining subdued during the recent month.

“We doubt if anyone was genuinely surprised by this; the pace of the EUR rally since July will surely be a factor for the Governing Council at the ECB meeting next week,” says Viraj Patel, a foreign exchange strategist with ING Group.

The data and reports of Governing Council unease come just days ahead of the next ECB meeting where it was once widely expected that the eurozone central bank would adopt a more hawkish tone and start to provide details of its plans to begin paring back its bond buying program.

However, economists and strategists are now clarifying and further qualifying their projections for when the ECB will eventually begin to wind down its record stimulus program.

“We stick to our call that the ECB is likely to extend QE into 2018, though at a slower pace and change its forward guidance on rates before year-end,” says Philippe Gudin, an economist at Barclays.