The recent downturn in Eurozone economic data is starting to be picked up by the widespread media
Eamonn had the news earlier here where the UK press is reporting that there are worrying signs in Germany, although they go as far as suggesting "this is how most recessions start".
The extreme view is a bit far-fetched for the time being in my view. Eurozone data has been disappointing to the downside since the turn of the year (just look at the Citi economic surprise index), but the data points are not all bad.
The recent PMI readings - although below the peak in December/January - are still running above their five-year averages and though Q1 growth will likely reflect a slowdown, it's still expected to hold up better than the likes of 2016.
The major worry for Eurozone officials is that this kind of sluggish momentum carries over into Q2 and the rest of the year. That will not only shake investor confidence - in fact last week we already had a glimpse of what a poor run of data sets can do for that here - but also feed to consumer confidence and create a feedback loop that hurts the economy further.
In case you missed it last week, economists themselves are a little perplexed by the recent slowdown in the Eurozone economy.
And when widespread media is starting to raise some awareness of the issue to the general public, it's not going to take long before the feedback loop mentioned above begins.
