Last edited Mon Oct 1, 2012, 07:01 AM - Edit history (1)
(Reuters) - Euro zone manufacturing put in its worst performance in the three months to September since the depths of the Great Recession, with factories hit by falling demand despite cutting prices, a business survey showed on Monday -- pointing to a new recession.
Factories helped lift the 17-nation bloc out of its last recession but the survey suggests a downturn that began in smaller periphery countries has taken root in core members Germany and France.
"Despite seeing some easing in the rate of decline last month, manufacturers across the euro area suffered the worst quarter for three years in the three months to September," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at data collator Markit.
"The sector will act as a severe drag on economic growth. It therefore seems inevitable that the region will have fallen back into a new recession in the third quarter."
Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 46.1 in September from 45.1 in August and above the preliminary reading of 46.0. But that was its 14th month below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction...
/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/uk-euro-zone-idUKBRE89008920121001
(Reuters) - France's manufacturing sector deteriorated sharply in September, shrinking at its fastest in three and a half years, a survey showed on Monday, as the euro zone debt crisis and escalating unemployment dragged the economy further towards contraction.
The final Markit/CDAF purchasing managers index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector slumped to 42.7 in September from 46.0 in August, hitting its lowest since April 2009.
It was the seventh straight month that the index has remained below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.
And September saw a marked acceleration in the trend, with the output index falling from 39.4 to 45.3, its biggest monthly drop since February 2009, when the country was mired in its worst recession since the Second World War.
The new orders index slumped to 39.6 from 45.7, its biggest fall since March 2003.
/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/uk-french-manufacturing-idUKBRE89008T20121001
(Reuters) - German manufacturing shrank for a seventh straight month in September as Europe's largest economy felt the impact of the region's debt crisis, a survey showed on Monday, though there were signs the decline may be bottoming out.
Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Germany, released on Monday, rose to 47.4 in September, its highest since March but still below the 50 line that divides growth from contraction. In August the index stood at 44.7.
The improvement in the headline figure was largely due to slower falls in production and new work as well as a stabilisation in staffing levels, Markit said.
The final reading for September came in slightly above the flash estimate of 47.3 and though it remained weak compared with early 2011, when levels above 60 were reached, the survey pointed to the relative resilience of the German economy.
"Germany saw the biggest one-month manufacturing PMI gain of the 'big four' euro area nations during September, and in doing so replaced France atop this performance table," said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit. "This is an encouraging sign that the bottom has been reached for the German PMI survey, with the headline index boosted by slower falls in both output and new order inflows."
/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/uk-poll-german-idUKBRE89008320121001
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