LONDON (Reuters) – Manufacturing activity in the euro zone remained mired in a deep and widespread slowdown in September, while demand continued to fall at a sustained pace, final results of the monthly S&P Global survey showed. Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) to purchasing managers published Monday.
The final Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 43.4 in September, as indicated in a first estimate, from 43.5 in August.
The 50 mark separates growth and contraction in activity.
The index measuring production, which feeds into Tuesday’s composite PMI and is considered a good indicator of the region’s economic health, rose to 43.1 from 43.4.
“The production PMI index is well below 50 for the entire third quarter, so we are almost certain that the recession in the manufacturing sector has continued during this period,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at HCOB.
“In the race to the back of the pack, France and Germany are leading in the September PMI indices, while Spain and Italy are doing a little less badly,” he added. .
The new orders index certainly increased last month, to 39.2 from 39.0 in August, but it remains firmly below the equilibrium point.
The drop in demand comes despite a decrease, the fastest since the 2008-2009 crisis, in the prices invoiced by factories over an average of three months, said Cyrus de la Rubia.
(Reporting Jonathan Cable; French version Claude Chendjou, editing by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters