Economy in the euro zone in December 2018 recorded the slowest growth in more than four years, showed the latest monthly survey by IHS Markit, a London-based global provider of business surveys, published on Friday.

Purchasing Managers’ index (PMI), an economic indicator derived from monthly surveys of private businesses, dropped in December in the private sector of the euro zone by 1.6 points compared to the previous month, reaching 51.1 points, the lowest level in over four years and 0.2 percent lower than Markit’s earlier flash estimate.

“The euro zone economy moved down another gear at the end of 2018, with growth down considerably from the elevated rates at the start of the year,” said the Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, Chris Williamson.

New orders to manufacturers dropped to the lowest level in over four years, and new work recorded the weakest growth since the end of 2014, the survey showed.

“Levels of unfinished business are now falling for the first time in nearly four years as previously received orders are not being fully replaced with full work,” Williamson said.

The survey said that the lower activity in the euro zone in December could partly be explained by the lower activities in France, where the “gilets jaunes” protests reportedly resulted in the first fall in economic output in over two years.

“While a drop in business activity in France could be partly blamed on the “yellow vest” protests, the rest of the region lacks any such mitigating factors,” Williamson said, adding that the recent weakness of the auto sector was hopefully temporary.

Companies are not expecting any imminent revivals in demand, he said and added that worries were caused by a number of factors, such as trade wars, Brexit, heightened political uncertainty, financial market volatility, and slower global economic growth.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.