Economic activity in the eurozone has slowed down in June, according to research from Markit.
The slowdown meant activity was at its weakest rate in six months.
The latest figures show that the “core” economies of France and Germany are faltering while growth in the rest of the eurozone is at its strongest since pre-recession levels.
France’s economy was hit by a steep downturn, and in Germany the pace of expansion was at its weakest in eight months.
But better news was to be had in the “peripheral” countries where output accelerated and growth is at the strongest since August 2007.
“It is the rest of the region, outside of France and Germany, which – as a whole – is seeing the strongest growth momentum at the moment, highlighting how the ‘periphery’ is recovering,” said Markit’s chief economist.
Excluding Germany and France, new orders showed the largest increase since July 2007.
Last week, the IMF worried that eurozone recovery has not been strong enough. Earlier this month, the European Central Bank began measures to help boost recovery, such as cheap long-term loans to banks.
Eimar Daly, head of market analysis at Monex Europe, said that the Markit report showed that weakness in the eurozone was “mainly isolated in France”.
She said: “The most optimistic point of the recovery was the continued resurgence of the periphery.
“This underlines that the periphery is catching up with the core and the dangerous precedent of a two tier Eurozone, a sluggish periphery heavily indebted to the robust core, is changing.”
