Europe still sleeping even as Japan, Britain stir

Another month, another listless set of business surveys is likely to show this week just how much the euro zone economy still has to do to get over its debilitating debt and banking crisis.

An index based on a poll of purchasing managers across the 17-country bloc probably edged up to 49.1 in July from 48.7 in June, but remained below the watershed of 50 that would signal a resumption of growth, according to economists polled by Reuters.

The single-currency area, which makes up about 20 per cent of the global economy, has been shrinking since the fourth quarter of 2011.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1288287/europe-still-sleeping-even-japan-britain-stir