Related News
Eurozone faces more bleak times
Source: Agencies |
November 23, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE eurozone economy is on course for its weakest quarter since the dark days of early 2009, according to business surveys that showed companies toiling against shrinking order books in November.
Service sector companies like banks and hotels that comprise the bulk of the economy fared particularly badly this month, and laid off staff at a faster pace.
While the monthly rate of decline that manufacturers reported eased far more than economists anticipated, Markit's latest Purchasing Managers' Indexes pointed to little change overall for a recession-hit eurozone this month.
The flash service sector PMI fell to 45.7 this month, its lowest reading since July 2009, the survey showed yesterday, failing to meet the expectations of economists who thought it would hold at October's 46.
It has been rooted below the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction for 10 months now, and survey compiler Markit said it was too soon to say if this marked the nadir.
With more austerity on the way, and a reminder of the festering sovereign debt crisis in this week's failure of lenders to agree more aid for Greece, prospects for next year look ominous.
"The concern about the outlook is getting worse as we move towards the end of the year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
He added German firms especially have become more pessimistic about 2013.
"If the domestic economy of Germany, the largest eurozone nation, is weakening, then that bodes ill for the rest of the region, especially as there's little trade picking up outside the region," Williamson said.
Overall, the PMIs were consistent with the economy shrinking around 0.5 percent in this quarter, Markit said.
That would be the sharpest contraction since the first quarter of 2009.
While they also suggested the economy shrank by a similar amount in the third quarter, instead of 0.1 percent shown in last week's official data, Williamson said it was very likely the fourth quarter would see a larger downturn.
There was little conviction among businesses that things will get better soon.
Service sector companies like banks and hotels that comprise the bulk of the economy fared particularly badly this month, and laid off staff at a faster pace.
While the monthly rate of decline that manufacturers reported eased far more than economists anticipated, Markit's latest Purchasing Managers' Indexes pointed to little change overall for a recession-hit eurozone this month.
The flash service sector PMI fell to 45.7 this month, its lowest reading since July 2009, the survey showed yesterday, failing to meet the expectations of economists who thought it would hold at October's 46.
It has been rooted below the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction for 10 months now, and survey compiler Markit said it was too soon to say if this marked the nadir.
With more austerity on the way, and a reminder of the festering sovereign debt crisis in this week's failure of lenders to agree more aid for Greece, prospects for next year look ominous.
"The concern about the outlook is getting worse as we move towards the end of the year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
He added German firms especially have become more pessimistic about 2013.
"If the domestic economy of Germany, the largest eurozone nation, is weakening, then that bodes ill for the rest of the region, especially as there's little trade picking up outside the region," Williamson said.
Overall, the PMIs were consistent with the economy shrinking around 0.5 percent in this quarter, Markit said.
That would be the sharpest contraction since the first quarter of 2009.
While they also suggested the economy shrank by a similar amount in the third quarter, instead of 0.1 percent shown in last week's official data, Williamson said it was very likely the fourth quarter would see a larger downturn.
There was little conviction among businesses that things will get better soon.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
