France's economy has taken another blow - with manufacturing output slumping by an alarming 2.3% in May.
Statistics body INSEE said manufacturing output fell "dramatically" during the month.
The wider measure of industrial output also fell, by 1.7%, which will fuel concerns over the eurozone's second largest economy.
The survey suggests France's industrial sector struggled badly in May, with almost all industries reporting a drop in output.
Electrical and electronic equipment production fell by 4.9%, and transport manufacturing fell 3.5%.
And output in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products "plummeted" by 8.4%, INSEE reported.
So what happened?
French public holidays may have exacerbated the downturn. INSEE says three holidays fell on Thursdays, meaning firms may have shut down on the Friday too.
But as this graph shows, French manufacturing output has fallen by 0.9% over the last three months, as its economy struggles.
France isn't alone, though. Recent data has shown that German and UK industrial output also fell in May, making some analysts wonder if the European economy hit trouble during the month....
5 comments:
the euro zone is not weak…it is bankrupt insolvent skint…how exactly does a bank repair their balance sheet…apart from making profit…and how can they earn their way to profitability when in the real economy millions upon millions of eu citizens are jobless homeless or up to their eyeballs in debt….and most banks are stuffed up to the gills in toxic bonds from greece italy slovenia spain portugal ireland bulgaria …and most eu states have national debts fast approaching 100% of gdp if not greater than 100%..it is misleading because the article can't be referring to earning their way to better books of account so the article must be referring to other ways of improving balance sheets and that is is where it is misleading…..printing money….quantative easing…creating loans out of fresh air….are all just a dishonest kicking the can down the road...
Weird then that the US govt wants the Yuan to become a freely traded currency so that the Yuan will appreciate in value and make US exports become more competitive. The Chinese govt has held the Yuan at an artificially low rate vs the US$ and the € to make its exports more competitive. It's one of the reasons why China has become the largest foreign owner of US Treasuries.
The problem with the € is that it is too strong for its peripheral members. The € is really the DM rebranded. The DM is a great currency for Germany but it is a crap one for Italy, Spain et al.
Deflation, it seems to me, is just the latest tool being deployed by the Neoliberal Empire to economically oppress populations while directing cash flow to the oligarchy.
What will it take for the 100ds of millions (in fact 7 billion) people to stop obeying these criminal overlords? A world full of sheep sheered and slaughtered at will by the ruling thugs. Yet almost everyone just goes along not even grumbling under their breath about about the inhumanity of our rulers.
I read these comments and it is appalling just how ignorant people are about economics spouting views which have so clearly been drilled into them by the ruling thugs and their PR.
Merkel is of East German communist upbringing and intent on bringing French-style socialism to Germany. Cunningly she used the World Cup to pass a law lowering entitlements from private (!) pension funds. She needs the money to finance incompetent public servants all around the Mediterranean.
Never stops to amaze me how spineless Merkel fools the world with her not-saying-anything into thinking that there is substance behind it. Fact is that she has given in to EU economic lighthouses France and Italy on everything.
we are nowhere near the kind of doom that was predicted in 2009/2010 to befall us all. The Euro is still there, its value still strong. While the EU economies are not growing much, they are certainly nowhere near anything close to collapse or serious problems, and most people continue living the way they did, a few negative exceptions aside.
I am not saying all is well nothing to see here - but one would be wise to take an objective perspective on the actual situation on the ground, and realize that the EU is far, very far, from being in real serious deep shit. And no matter how often you say the Euro is doomed, the EU economies are [enter soon-to-be-apocalyptic-phrase-here] saying it won't make it true. We still have a VERY strong manufacturing industry, (certainly compared to the rest of the world) excellent social security, second-to-none medical services and knowledge, massive, enormous wealth (with or without debts) and aside of the usual suspects (Greece/Italy) our political systems are stable and work reasonably well.
Things can be better, yes, but we are doing quite well, considering. Enough of this doom-minded "soon-x-y-z-will-go-completely-wrong unless Enormous and Unlikely Tasks A B and C are completed yesterday !!!111" scaremongering!
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