The eurozone economy is slowing once again as France remains ‘lost in stagnation’, reports This is Money.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of private sector activity in the single currency bloc, where 50 is the cut-off between growth and decline, slipped from 54 in March to 53.5 in April.
France was the main drag on growth – its score fell from 51.5 to just 50.2 – while activity in German also slowed. The German PMI dropped from 55.4 to 54.2.
Frederik Ducrozet, an economist at Crédit Agricole, said that France was ‘still lost in stagnation’.
The slowdown in the eurozone’s two biggest economies overshadowed strong growth elsewhere and is despite the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, which published the figures, said: ‘The weaker rate of expansion is a big disappointment given widespread expectations that the ECB’s quantitative easing will have boosted the fledgling recovery seen at the start of the year.’
The report showed that growth across the remaining 16 nations of the single currency bloc was the strongest for nearly eight years.