Business activity in the German service sector decreased in September amid the widespread fears of recession in the biggest EU economy, the IHS Markit information provider said on Thursday in a report
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2019) Business activity in the German service sector decreased in September amid the widespread fears of recession in the biggest EU economy, the IHS Markit information provider said on Thursday in a report.On August 19, the German Central Bank said that the country's GDP had fallen by 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019 and may drop even further in next three months, which could trigger a recession.
"September saw the headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Germany Services PMI [Purchasing Managers' Index] Business Activity Index - which is based on responses to a single question asking about changes in the volume of business activity compared with one month previously - sink to 51.4, down from 54.8 in August and its lowest reading for three years," the report said.
At the same time, employment in the service industry continued to grow in September.
According to Principal Economist at IHS Markit Phil Smith, the drop in business activity was even worse than expected, which could be viewed as another sign of a potential recession.
"The slowdown in the service sector in September was even worse than first feared, with the final results showing the weakest business activity growth for three years. A technical recession now looks to be all but confirmed," Smith said.
The German economy is currently suffering due to problems in its automotive industry, as well as negative external factors such as the US-Chinese trade war and uncertainty over Brexit.
