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French manufacturing sector downturn deepens amid sharper fall in new orders
Business conditions in the French manufacturing sector deteriorated further in April. Moreover, the rate of worsening accelerated to the sharpest for one year. This was highlighted by the headline Markit France Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index ® (PMI ® ) – a seasonally adjusted index designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy – dropping to 48.0 from 49.6 in March. Weighing on the headline index was a faster reduction in new orders during April. The latest drop in incoming new work was the most marked since February 2015. Anecdotal evidence suggested that lower new orders were ... (full story)