Top Euro-Area Economies Flash Recession Warning Signals
- German composite PMI drops to 48.3, economist est. 49.8
- France at 46.6 in July, economists predicted 47.7 reading
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Germany and France kicked off the third quarter with contractions in their private-sector economies, with sustained weakness in manufacturing seeing increased spillover to services.
S&P Global’s Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for Germany dropped to the lowest level this year, with a July reading of 48.3 that fell below the 50 threshold that indicates growth. France fared even worse, hitting a 32-month low of 46.6. The figures for both countries were worse than predicted by any economist in Bloomberg surveys.