The manufacturing sector in France has suffered another contraction during the August sizzle which was the fourth month in a row of tumbling fortune.
Fewer than expected orders came in for factory goods which resulted in job losses. The sharp decline is likely to impact on the overall economy.
At the same time, manufacturing elsewhere in the eurozone ended the month with moderate growth, according to the influential Markit survey, leaving France with the second worst factory sector in the region.
Only Greece fared worse. Although factories there registered a moderate improvement in August it followed a collapse in July to an all-time low.
"The French industrial sector remains in the doldrums and is likely to continue to act as a drag on the broader French economy," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.
Germany’s economy whizzed ahead, hitting a 16-month high in August. Although global demand was weak, German manufacturers still received a marked rise in orders from foreign markets.
UK manufacturing also slipped in August as demand for British goods tapered off in the eurozone. Markit called the limited growth “sluggish” which “remains in a holding pattern”.
It said the job losses incurred ended more than two years of solid employment growth.
The improvements in manufacturing in many countries lend hope that the area’s unemployment figures will fall.
In Portugal, registered unemployment fell to 12.1% in July this year, down from 14% in the same month last year.
This was against a backdrop of 10.9%, the average for euro nations.
