The Economic Times reports today that European manufacturing activity as measured by new orders fell for the eleventh consecutive time in April 2012. What’s more, Euro zone manufacturing workers lost ground at the fastest rate in over two years.
In an article entitled “Euro zone downturn taking root among core members France and Germany,” The Economics Times says a recent survey indicates that “a downturn that started in the periphery appears to be taking root among core members France and Germany.” Germany and France now have experienced a manufacturing contraction two months in a row.
Germany and France are obviously exasperating the significant drop in the Euro zone’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which registered a significant drop – nearly 3.8% -from a level of 47.7 in March 2012, to 45.9 in April 2012. Readers will note that a PMI level of 50 or above indicates economic expansion, while a level below 50 indicates the opposite. (Thankfully, the United States manufacturing sector is doing much better than Europe’s – with the US manufacturing base expanding for the 33rd month in a row and registering a relatively robust level of 54.8% in April 2012.) Read more
