ISTANBUL 

Germany’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a three-month low of 43.2 in July, from 43.5 in June, as the manufacturing sector started the third quarter on a decline, according to a report Thursday by S&P Global.

It said a sharp reduction in manufacturing output led to the drop in the headline PMI, as the rate of contraction went up in the previous two months.

The downward trend in factory output revealed weakness in Germany’s manufacturing sector, as the number of new orders fell sharply and layoffs continued, the report showed.

“With manufacturing being so crucial to Germany’s economy -accounting for 22.6% of gross value added-, we are now expecting the overall economy to grow just 0.2% this year, down from our previous forecast of 0.5%,” Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hambug Commercial Bank, said in the report.