2023-09-02 11:20:01
The increase in business failures in France is reflected in an increase in layoffs. (The increase in business failures in France is reflected in an increase in layoffs. (© Julien Fauré)
The fall in activity has affected the service sector. If Germany remains the bad student of the class, France is not left out.
Have Western economies entered a new phase? Since the central banks began their monetary tightening in 2022, in order to curb inflation, activity has shown remarkable resilience, particularly in the United States.
However, the latest indicators show that it has started to falter, with an acceleration of the slowdown almost everywhere – with the exception of Japan. The preliminary PMI indices for August, published last week, are indeed much worse than expected.
And the case of Europe is particularly alarming. The eurozone composite PMI for August contracted to its lowest level since the end of 2020, at 47 points, from 48.6 the previous month.
Business concerns
Once again, it is Germany that is dragging the zone down, with a sharp fall in activity being observed in particular in services. While these have long acted as a shock absorber, the trend has changed markedly in recent months. The index for this sector even collapsed in August, losing 5 points to 47.3. And business leaders are increasingly worried about the months to come. With regard to industry, activity is stabilizing at a low level (39.1) and it is difficult to envisage a
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