Today (Wednesday), the euro was already down 0.78% at the time of writing. Twitter user “Gully Foyle #UKTrade” (@TerraOrBust) posted an image of a chart showing the sharp fall in the euro against the US dollar. They wrote next to it: “In case this news has not reached you for some reason. “The euro has lost more than 10% of its value against the dollar in the past year and is now approaching parity. “Ask yourself – is it normal not to hear this in the news? Would you expect to have?” Economic experts are painting a truly dire picture for the eurozone in the coming months, with a warning that there is a chance the region could slide into recession in the third quarter. The manufacturing sector is already in decline for the first time in two years, while the services sector has been hit hard as a result of the ongoing cost of living crisis sweeping across Europe. Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “The sharp deterioration in the pace of eurozone business activity increases the risk of the region slipping into economic decline in the third quarter. READ MORE: Red Wall Tories warn of Starmer’s Brexit plan “The June PMI reading is indicative of quarterly GDP growth softening to just 0.2%, with forward-looking indicators such as survey new orders and business expectations gauges pointing to a fall in output in the coming months . He added: “The manufacturing sector is already in recession for the first time in two years, and the services sector has suffered a significant loss of growth momentum amid a cost-of-living crisis. “Household spending on non-essential goods and services has come under particular pressure due to rising prices, but business spending and investment are also falling in response to the gloomier outlook and tighter economic conditions.” Last week, Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, warned in a short report that inflation in the euro zone was expected to jump to 8.6% in June – up from 8.1% in May, according to a first estimate. DON’T MISS LIVE: Putin humiliated as troops retreat from Finnish border [BLOG]Shell on the brink of a major energy breakthrough to ‘change the future of the EU [REPORT]Seriously? Lavrov tells people to obey international law [COMMENTS] The report says: “Looking at the main components of inflation in the euro area, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in June (41.9%, compared to 39.1% in May), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (8.9%, compared with 7.5% in May), non-energy industrial goods (4.3%, compared with 4.2% in May) and services (3.4%, compared with 3.5 % in May).”. Like most major currencies around the world, the eurozone economy has been battered in recent months as a result of Russia’s ongoing brutal war in Ukraine. This has seen inflation rates soar as hundreds of millions of people across the continent are now faced with spending far more on everyday items than they had to in the past. Rising energy prices have further stoked inflation concerns, sinking the euro on growing recession worries.
