German PMI contracted during September, the first such contraction in 15 months. The news raises the question about whether the recovery from the Great Recession in the eurozone has faltered. This is particularly true since Germany is the largest economy in the region based on gross domestic product, and its economy is considered the healthiest.

The final seasonally adjusted Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) — a single-figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy — slipped below the neutral 50.0 threshold in September. At 49.9, down from 51.4 in August, the headline PMI signalled stagnation in Germany’s goods-producing sector, thereby ending a 14-month sequence of continuous growth. The headline index reading followed an earlier ‘flash’ estimate of 50.3.

Economists and the markets have every reason to be anxious.

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