Eurozone 8216 may be on course for worst quarter since 2009 8242

The fourth quarter of this year may well be the worst the eurozone has experienced since the crash in 2009.

Reuters reports that a series of reports all point to the fact the final months of 2012 will disappoint, with many companies struggling to stay afloat as they deal with shrinking order books.

Markit's purchasing managers; index (PMI) for the services sector revealed disappointing data for this month, as it fell to 45.7 – which is the lowest reading since July 2009 and indicates contraction in the sector is speeding up.

Furthermore, it failed to meet the expectations of economists who thought it would hold at October's reading of 46.0.

And even Germany – which was once thought to be immune to the debt crisis – is struggling as the downturn bites.

Chief economist for Markit Chris Williamson commented: "If the domestic economy of Germany, the largest euro zone nation, is weakening, then that bodes ill for the rest of the region – especially as there's little trade picking up outside the region."

At 10:30 GMT today (November 22nd, the Dax in Germany rose by 0.7 per cent to an index value of 7236.4 points.

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