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Eurozone manufacturing PMI falls again in August | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Manufacturing output across the 18-country eurozone shrank again in August, according to a widely-watched survey. | |
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed the region's manufacturing sector contracted despite factories cutting prices. | |
Markit's final PMI was 45.1, above July's three-year low of 44.0. | |
However, the figure was the 13th month in a row that it was below the 50 mark, which indicates growth. | |
The traditional stronger countries of Germany and France failed to provide support to the weak ones. | |
Germany's PMI read 44.7 in August, its sixth monthly fall in a row. | |
Italy and Spain's readings have been below 50 for more than a year. | |
Only Ireland saw manufacturing output rise. | |
Irish manufacturing growth slowed in August to 50.9 in August from a 15-month high of 53.9 in July, a figure that still indicates growth, however. | |
Senior economist Rob Dobson at Markit, which collects the data, said the figures were bleak: "Larger nations like France and Germany remain in reverse gear... the [manufacturing] sector is on course to act as a drag on gross domestic product in the third quarter." | |
The gross domestic product (GDP) latest figures for the three months to the end of June showed the eurozone as a whole contracted by 0.2% and no growth is expected until next year. | |
The European Central Bank (ECB) is meeting on Thursday to discuss monetary policy. | |
Economists are expecting the bank to cut interest rates at some point to a new record low of 0.5%. |