Eurozone manufacturing sees tepid growth in June, says Markit
Markit’s final Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index printed at 52.5 in June, a touch higher than last month’s 52.2 and in line with a preliminary reading.
This marked its highest reading since April 2014 and Markit said growth was registered in all nations except Greece.
“In an otherwise broad-based upturn, Greece remained the outlier, suffering the steepest drop in manufacturing output for two years as orders continued to collapse in a month of fraught discussions seeking to stave off default,” said Markit’s chief economist Chris Williamson.
“However, the overall pace of expansion remains insipid rather than impressive,” added Williamson.
He said that although France’s factories have returned to growth for the first time in over a year, and the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy are all seeing especially strong rates of growth, the lacklustre rates of expansion in Germany and France mean the PMI is broadly consistent with Eurozone manufacturing output rising by a mere 0.3% in the second quarter.