Business activity in Germany contracted for a fourth straight month in October as a downturn in manufacturing was accompanied by a fresh decline in services, a preliminary survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting the recession has already begun.
GERMANY, Oct 23 (Telegraph News) – The HCOB Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 45.8 in October from September’s 46.4, below the 46.7 forecasts by economists.
A reading below the 50 level points to a contraction in business activity. The composite PMI index tracks the services and manufacturing sectors that together account for more than two-thirds of the German economy, Europe’s biggest.
The manufacturing PMI rose slightly for the fourth month in a row, to 40.7 from 39.6 in September, in line with analysts’ expectations, though still deep in contraction territory.
