Euro zone business activity collapses in March as coronavirus spreads: PMI
FILE PHOTO: Bull and bear, symbols for successful and bad trading are seen in front of the German stock exchange , as markets react on the coronavirus disease in Frankfurt, Germany, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
But with businesses shuttered across the region, Purchasing Managers’ Indexes compiled by IHS Markit slumped to record lows in March and suggested it could be months before things returned to any semblance of normalcy. “We think that GDP across the euro zone will fall even more quickly in Q2 than the surveys suggest. We estimate that while lockdowns are in place, output will be at least 25% below its normal level.”
Already teetering on recession before the coronavirus outbreak, Italy saw its services PMI dive to 17.4 while the new business index sank to 13.8. Economists now forecast a severe recession in the euro zone’s third largest economy this year.
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