Germany’s private sector is suffering its worst downturn in almost seven years as a manufacturing slump deepens, raising pressure on the government to add fiscal stimulus.

A Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 49.1 in September from 51.7 a month earlier, according to IHS Markit. The reading was worse than economists predicted and the lowest since October 2012. It’s also the first reading below 50, signaling contraction, since April 2013.

The confluence of trade tensions, challenges for the auto industry and looming Brexit are “paralyzing order books” in manufacturing, said Phil Smith, an economist at Markit. The result is the worst slump German industry has seen since the depth of 2009 financial crisis, he reckons.

Source : Bloomberg