2cd Global Recession in Just 4 Years? Even China Seen at Risk.
The Economic Times
Global manufacturing shrinks for first time since 2009
WASHINGTON/LONDON: Global manufacturing shrank for the first time in over two years in September, reinforcing fears of another recession despite a modest bounce in U.S. factory activity...
In Europe and Asia, factory activity dropped in September to levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis as export demand dropped.
Europe's leaders have so far managed to prevent the euro zone debt crisis triggering a financial catastrophe, but data point to worsening economic fortunes across the region.
Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) which gauges changes in the activity of thousands of factories in the countries that share the euro, fell to a final reading of 48.5 in September from 49.0 in August.
It is the second consecutive month the manufacturing PMI has been below the 50 mark that divides contraction from growth.
"In a nutshell, the recession in the euro zone periphery's manufacturing activity is weighing on the overall euro zone index that - in September - suggests that the economy is not growing in Q3," said Annalisa Piazza at Newedge...
CNBC
Asia's Factory Activity Slows in Month to Crisis-Era Lows
September factory activity in some of Asia's biggest economies slumped to levels last seen during the depths of the financial crisis as export demand dropped, reinforcing fears that fading U.S. and European growth will spare no one.
A gauge of India's manufacturing output recorded its biggest monthly decline since November 2008 while Taiwan's factory activity slowed to a 32-month low, purchasing managers' indexes released on Monday showed.
Even in China, which reported a slight uptick in its official PMI on Saturday, economists saw evidence of a cool-down. China's factory activity typically rises in September as businesses prepare for the Golden Week holiday, but this year's increase was smaller than the average...
Nomura economist Zhiwei Zhang said a new export orders reading of 50.9 in China's official PMI was well off the historical September average level of 55.7, excluding an unusually weak print from September 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed...
In Japan, a similar report on Friday showed the manufacturing sector contracted in September for the first time in five months, suggesting that its economy was back in the doldrums after a short-lived earthquake-recovery boost...
