Business activity in the Eurozone contracted sharply and unexpectedly this month, as the region's dominant services industry ground to a halt while the decline in manufacturing accelerated.
The slowdown appeared broad-based, with Germany, Europe's largest economy, deepening its slide, while France, the monetary union's second-largest economy, slipped back into contraction after the boost from the Olympic Games in August. The euro zone's flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 48.9 this month from 51.0 in August, below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the first time since February.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
