German manufacturing recession deepens

A recession in Germany’s manu-facturing sector worsened in July with the performance of goods producers dropping to the lowest level in seven years, a survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting a deteriorating growth outlook for Europe’s largest economy.

Markit’s flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors that together account for more than two thirds of the economy, fell to 51.4 from 52.6 in the previous month. That undershot analysts’ consensus forecast of 52.3 and was the lowest reading since March, though it still remained abovethe 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.