Germany PMI moves into contraction territory in July

The German economy moved into contraction territory in July as a deepening downturn in manufacturing output coincided with a sustained slowdown in services activity growth, the latest HCOB ‘flash’ PMI® survey compiled by S&P Global showed. Business expectations towards future activity meanwhile turned negative for the first time this year, which was reflected in a weakening of job creation from the strong rates seen in the second quarter. On the price front, rates of input cost and output charge inflation continued to slow. However, this owed exclusively to an increasing drag from falling manufacturing costs