
Hopes for a long-awaited recovery of factory activity in Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse were uplifted this week as a key indicator of the sector’s health surged to a 34-month high in Germany.But the fact that the country’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for June still remained at 49.0 – when a reading below 50 suggests a contraction in the sector – underscores the uphill challenge that Germany is facing in trying to regain growth and past glory in its manufacturing activities.The...