The euro zone is threatened with a recession due to the weakness of its largest economy, Germany. The purchasing managers’ index for industry and service providers fell by one point to 47.1 in October, according to the financial services provider S&P Global in its survey of thousands of companies. The barometer, which has received a lot of attention on the financial markets, thus moved further away from the 50 mark, from which it signals growth. “In view of the intensified decline in production and the further weakening of demand, economic output in the euro zone is likely to shrink in the fourth quarter of 2022,” said chief economist Chris Williamson. Banking economists see it that way too. “There is hardly any doubt: the economy in the euro area is in recession,” said Commerzbank economist Christoph Weil. In industry, for example, the fifth decline in production in a row was as severe as in the past ten years only during the first months of the pandemic. The chemical industries and manufacturers of raw materials recorded the strongest declines, probably also because of their particularly high energy costs.
Business cycle – managers expect recession – economy
