Europe in crisis

The commercial activity of the euro zone barely grew in October because demand declined, according to a survey published on Thursday, which will be a disappointing read for the outgoing president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi.
In September, the ECB entered its type of deposits even further into negative territory and said it would resume its bond purchase program indefinitely to reduce loan costs and stimulate investment and growth in the euro zone.
However, provisional indices prepared from surveys of company executives in October suggest that these measures have not yet influenced the private sector.
The interim PMI index composed of IHS Markit, which is considered a good barometer of economic health, stood at 50.2, just above the final reading of September (50.1), which was the lowest data in more than six years, but still dangerously close to the threshold of 50, which separates the growth of the contraction, and below the expectations of the analysts, who according to a Reuters poll predicted a figure of 50.3.
“The euro zone economy began in the fourth quarter near the stagnation, and the provisional PMI points to a quarterly GDP growth rate of just under 0.1%,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist of business analysis at IHS Markit .
“The survey indicates that Mario Draghi’s mandate at the head of the ECB ends with an almost stagnant GDP, a slowdown in employment, almost stagnant prices and a growing pessimism about the outlook.”