Business activity collapses across Europe as coronavirus lockdowns spread......

[MMC]

Business activity has cratered across Europe as attempts to contain the coronavirus pandemic push governments to shut down vast swathes of their economies, from shops to factories to restaurants, surveys showed on Friday.


Governments in the euro zone have unveiled unprecedented stimulus measures and the European Central Bank has increased its asset purchase target for this year to around 1.1 trillion euros to try and mitigate the fallout.


But with businesses shuttered across the region, Purchasing Managers’ Indexes compiled by IHS Markit slumped to record lows in March and suggested it could be months before things returned to any semblance of normalcy.


A final composite PMI for the euro zone plummeted to a record low of 29.7 from February’s 51.6, lower than the flash reading of 31.4 and marking by far its biggest one-month drop since the survey began in July 1998. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction.


“We think that GDP across the euro zone will fall even more quickly in Q2 than the surveys suggest. We estimate that while lockdowns are in place, output will be at least 25% below its normal level.”


Like its manufacturing counterpart, activity in the bloc’s dominant service industry has also almost ground to a halt, with travel, tourism, restaurants and other leisure activities all hit hard by virus containment measures.


Italy and Spain have so far taken the biggest hit on the continent from the pandemic but all four of the currency union’s top economies - and Britain, which recently left the European Union - saw activity collapse. …..snip~


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-e...-idUSKBN21L11X


Imagine that.....this is what the Democrats want to happen to the US. Looks like it will be far more difficult for the Euros to recover.

[MMC]

Do you think the Euros will decrease Trade with China now?

[PJL]

Business activity has cratered across Europe as attempts to contain the coronavirus pandemic push governments to shut down vast swathes of their economies, from shops to factories to restaurants, surveys showed on Friday. Governments in the euro zone have unveiled unprecedented stimulus measures and the European Central Bank has increased its asset purchase target for this year to around 1.1 trillion euros to try and mitigate the fallout. But with businesses shuttered across the region, Purchasing Managers’ Indexes compiled by IHS Markit slumped to record lows in March and suggested it could be months before things returned to any semblance of normalcy. A final composite PMI for the euro zone plummeted to a record low of 29.7 from February’s 51.6, lower than the flash reading of 31.4 and marking by far its biggest one-month drop since the survey began in July 1998. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction. “We think that GDP across the euro zone will fall even more quickly in Q2 than the surveys suggest. We estimate that while lockdowns are in place, output will be at least 25% below its normal level.” Like its manufacturing counterpart, activity in the bloc’s dominant service industry has also almost ground to a halt, with travel, tourism, restaurants and other leisure activities all hit hard by virus containment measures. Italy and Spain have so far taken the biggest hit on the continent from the pandemic but all four of the currency union’s top economies - and Britain, which recently left the European Union - saw activity collapse. …..snip~ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-e...-idUSKBN21L11X Imagine that.....this is what the Democrats want to happen to the US. Looks like it will be far more difficult for the Euros to recover.

When business's shuts down , it stands to reason that GDP will fall.........Europe will recover.

[PJL]

Do you think the Euros will decrease Trade with China now?

I think all countries will be doing less export trade , and focusing more on their domestic markets , and self sufficiency .

[MMC]

When business's shuts down , it stands to reason that GDP will fall.........Europe will recover.

The Euros will have a harder time recovering.

[PJL]

The Euros will have a harder time recovering.

Economic recovery for all countries depends entirely on how quick they stop the spread of the corona virus .......and that will be determined by social co-operation and discipline , to stop infections .

[bulletbob]

Economic recovery for all countries depends entirely on how quick they stop the spread of the corona virus .......and that will be determined by social co-operation and discipline , to stop infections .

No thats not the main factor. You are wrong again PJL . THE. Main factor to recovery is the actual strength of the existing economy . if it was weak to start with it will take longer.

[MMC]

Economic recovery for all countries depends entirely on how quick they stop the spread of the corona virus .......and that will be determined by social co-operation and discipline , to stop infections .

Those open borders that the Euros have affects much as to why they will have a harder time recovering.

[PJL]

Those open borders that the Euros have affects much as to why they will have a harder time recovering.

.......which is why many Euro countries , like Hungary and Denmark , are taking back their borders , and dealing with the virus and the recovery as a country first , and a Eurozone member second .......it's basically a return to commonsense , without dealing with a bureaucracy in Brussell .......maybe it also takes some pressure off Brussells ?

[Peter1469]

.......which is why many Euro countries , like Hungary and Denmark , are taking back their borders , and dealing with the virus and the recovery as a country first , and a Eurozone member second .......it's basically a return to commonsense , without dealing with a bureaucracy in Brussell .......maybe it also takes some pressure off Brussells ?

It also shows the structural weaknesses of the EU.