adminPARIS. — The eurozone recovery is losing steam, data released yesterday suggested, with France possibly heading back into recession.
Eurostat released its second estimate of the eurozone’s third-quarter gross domestic product growth, which was unchanged at 0,1 percent.
That marks a slowdown from the 0,3 percent economic growth recorded in the second quarter when the eurozone escaped a record 18-month recession.
More current data signalled a slowdown in the current quarter.
Eurostat yesterday also said that the volume of retail trade dipped by 0,2 percent in November from the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms.
Forward-looking business survey data also released yesterday indicated the recovery is slow and uneven.
Markit said the final score for its composite eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index for November came in at 51,7 down from 51,9 points in October.
While it was the fifth month running with a reading above 50, which signals growth, November was the second month in a row that it has slowed.
However, the surveys of managers about their operations, which are a reliable indicator of GDP growth, painted a contrasting picture across the eurozone.
While Germany was at a 29-month high at 55,4 and Ireland hit a 5-month high at the same level, both Italy and France declined again.
Italy slid to a five-month low of 48,8 and France hit a five-month low of 48,0.
“The final PMI data confirm that the euro area’s recovery lost some momentum in November,” said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.
He said a similar result in December would put the eurozone on course to grow by 0,2 percent in the fourth quarter. While data for Germany, Ireland and Spain is encouraging, Williamson expressed concern the “declines in the PMIs for Italy and France raise the prospect of these countries’ economies contracting again in the fourth quarter.”
That would mean France falling back into recession and a 10th quarter in a row of recession in Italy. — AFP.
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