PARIS (Reuters) – France’s manufacturing sector extended its decline in October as industrial production fell at its fastest pace in nine months, dragged down by weak new orders, particularly from international customers, a show showed Monday an economic survey carried out among purchasing directors.
The final S&P Global/HCOB PMI index for the French manufacturing sector stood at 44.5 in October.
The 50 mark separates growth and contraction in activity.
“The French manufacturing sector remains mired in a deep crisis,” said Tariq Kamal Chaudhry, an economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank.
“The outlook remains gloomy, with no signs of an upward trend on the horizon,” he added.
A subindex measuring industrial production fell to 43.1, down from 44.0 last month, the worst reading since January, when it stood at 41.0.
The slowdown was exacerbated by a sharp fall in export orders, which fell at one of the fastest rates in the survey’s history, amid geopolitical tensions and a slowing economy worldwide.
Domestic demand also weakened, with surveyed business executives citing cautious consumer spending and a struggling construction sector as factors.
(Tassilo Hummel, Bertrand De Meyer, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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