Business activity in the eurozone expanded this month at its weakest rate since the start of last year. <br /><br /> The latest surveys of the region’s businesses found a big split between manufacturers, which are buoyant with increasing new orders, and the service sector which is struggling. <br /><br /> The business surveys produced a mixed picture for the eurozone’s two biggest economies with France improving and Germany slowing. <br /><br /> #Eurozone economic growth at 20-month low in September as #PMI falls to 52.6 (Aug: 52.9) https://t.co/W0fnUPNZ6g pic.twitter.com/yrBmYjB8Wr— Markit Economics (@MarkitEconomics) September 23, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> French business activity hit a 15-month high, while Germany’s private sector growth was at a 16-month low, suggesting the powerhouse of the currency bloc may have lost momentum.<br /><br /> The results add to the feeling among economists that the European Central Bank’s extraordinary stimulus measures in recent years are unable to achieve much more. <br /><br /> The bank itself has been preaching for some time that additional government economic reforms are needed on top of low interest rates and money printing.<br /><br /> One thing that might cheer the ECB is that the business surveys showed firms stopped cutting prices for the first time in a year, which could help get inflation up near the its two percent target ceiling.<br />
