Economic Buzz: Eurozone Economic Downturn Deepens In September

23 Sept 2022 , 03:31 PM

The Eurozone economic downturn deepened in September, with business activity contracting for a third consecutive month. Although only modest, the rate of decline accelerated to a pace which, barring pandemic lockdowns, was the steepest since 2013. Forward-looking indicators, such as new order inflows, backlogs of work and future output expectations, point to the decline gathering further momentum in coming months. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Eurozone PMI composite Output Index fell from 48.9 in August to 48.2 in September, according to the preliminary flash reading based on approximately 85% of usual survey responses. The PMI has now registered below the neutral 50.0 level for three successive months, thereby signaling a continual economic decline throughout the third quarter, with the rate of contraction gathering pace in September to reach the fastest since January 2021. Excluding the pandemic shocks, the latest reading was the lowest since May 2013. Worsening performances were seen in both manufacturing and services, with demand falling at steepening rates in each sector as a result of the rising cost of living and growing gloom about future prospects. Soaring energy prices meanwhile added further to companies cost burdens, and also limited production in some cases, pushing survey price gauges higher to indicate a renewed acceleration of inflationary pressures. Powered by Commodity Insights