Eurozone in recession, survey shows

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The eurozone has fallen into recession, with industry particularly badly hit by the fallout from global economic turmoil, survey results indicated yesterday.

Private-sector output in the 15-country region has contracted in September for the fourth consecutive month, according to eurozone purchasing managers' indices.

The pace of decline is the fastest since the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, with manufacturing faring worse than services.

The findings indicate that global economic storms have pushed the region into a technical recession – two quarters of contracting gross domestic product.

The eurozone composite purchasing managers' index – covering services as well as manufacturing – fell from 48.2 in August to 47 this month. (A figure below 50 indicates a contraction in activity.)

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Chris Williamson, an economist at Markit, the information group that produces the survey, said the readings were consistent with stagnation. But the results excluded the construction and retailing sectors, which had fared even worse over the period.

“So you are looking at recession,” he concluded. Eurozone GDP had fallen by 0.2 per cent in the three months to June.

There was better news on the inflation front, with the survey showing that costs of companies' inputs were rising at their weakest rate since October 2007, largely as a result of lower oil and other commodity prices.