(Bloomberg) -- The euro-area economy stayed at the brink of contraction as manufacturing shrank for a ninth month.
IHS Markit’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.2 in October, missing economist estimates of 50.3. The reading above 50 -- a level that divides expansion from contraction -- signals that the private sector in the euro area is barely growing at the start of the fourth quarter.
The outlook is gloomy, with future expectations sinking to its worst since 2013, according to Markit. A rebound in French services provided a boost while the pace of German decline slowed, while the rest of the region showed weakness.
A key divergence between France and Germany remained trade, with the former seeing modest growth in new business from abroad, while Germany’s exports remained in steep decline.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is presiding over his last policy meeting on Thursday, and is expected give a further rallying cry for governments to turn on the spending taps to bolster growth. He hands over the top job to Christine Lagarde next month.
“ Mario Draghi’s tenure at the helm of the ECB ends on a note of near-stalled GDP, slower jobs growth, near-stagnant prices and growing pessimism,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. That is “piling pressure on Christine Lagarde to drive new solutions to the euro zone’s renewed malaise.”
