By Laurie Laird
LONDON (MaceNews) – Output in Europe’s single currency bloc plummeted in November, according to flash estimates released by IHS Markit, leaving the Eurozone facing another economic contraction in the fourth quarter.
The flash Purchasing Managers’ Index slumped to 45.1 in November, the lowest level since May, from 50.0 in October. Services took a beating as most of the zone’s leading economies reimposed economic lockdown measures toward the end of October, with the services PMI declining to a six-month low of 41.3 from 46.9 in October.
The composite indices averaged 47.6 over the first two months of the quarter, suggesting that the Eurozone contracted in the closing quarter after a record rebound in between July and September. The European Central Bank forecasts a 2% decline in gross domestic product between October and December, although economists expect downward revisions to ECB’s outlook next month.
Industrial output fared better, with many factories remaining open across the bloc. The manufacturing PMI declined to a three-month low of 53.6 from 54.8 in October.
Germany managed to stay above the 50.0 level that separates contraction from expansion, slipping to 52.0 from 55.0 in October, although that’s the weakest reading in five months. France was more severely stricken, with the composite PMI slumping to a six-month low of 39.9 from 47.5 in October.
The UK also contracted in November, after imposing a national lockdown on 5 November, slightly later than the European economies. The flash composite PMI fell to a six-month low 47.4 from 52.1 in October.