The eurozone has fallen into recession, with industry particularly badly hit by the fallout from global economic turmoil, survey results indicated yesterday.

Private-sector output in the 15-country region has contracted in September for the fourth consecutive month, according to eurozone purchasing managers' indices.

The pace of decline is the fastest since the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, with manufacturing faring worse than services.

The findings indicate that global economic storms have pushed the region into a technical recession - two quarters of contracting gross domestic product.

The eurozone composite purchasing managers' index - covering services as well as manufacturing - fell from 48.2 in August to 47 this month. (A figure below 50 indicates a contraction in activity.)

Chris Williamson, an economist at Markit, the information group that produces the survey, said the readings were consistent with stagnation. But the results excluded the construction and retailing sectors, which had fared even worse over the period.

"So you are looking at recession," he concluded. Eurozone GDP had fallen by 0.2 per cent in the three months to June.

There was better news on the inflation front, with the survey showing that costs of companies' inputs were rising at their weakest rate since October 2007, largely as a result of lower oil and other commodity prices.

调查结果昨日表明，欧元区已陷入衰退，其中工业受到全球经济动荡的冲击尤为严重。

欧元区采购经理人指数(PMI)显示，欧元区15国私营部门产出9月份已连续第4个月下降。

这一下降速度是自2001年9月恐怖主义袭击事件以来的最高值，其中制造业表现比服务业更为糟糕。

调查结果表明，全球经济风暴已将该地区推入技术意义上的衰退--国内生产总值(GDP)连续两个季度下降。

欧元区采购经理人综合指数（包括服务业以及制造业）从8月份的48.2下降至本月的47。（该指数低于50时表明经济活动出现收缩。）

进行此项调查的信息集团Markit经济学家克里斯·威廉姆森(Chris Williamson)表示，这些解读与经济停滞相符。不过，该结果不包括建筑业和零售业，而这两个行业在这段时期境遇甚至更糟。

他总结道，"因此，你正看到衰退。"欧元区国内生产总值在截至6月份的三个月内下降了0.2%。

在通胀方面显现出了好消息，调查显示，企业投入成本增速为2007年10月以来的最低值，这在很大程度上是由于油价和其它大宗商品价格的下降。
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