The euro area manufacturing sector contracted at the fastest pace in nearly seven years as output, new orders and purchasing fell sharply in September, final data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday.

The final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 45.7 in September from 47.0 in August. But the reading was above the flash estimate of 45.6.

The reading has remained below the neutral 50 for the eighth consecutive month, indicating contraction in the sector. The score was the lowest since October 2012.

The September PMI points to manufacturing output falling at a quarterly rate in excess of 1 percent, representing a severe drag on GDP in the third quarter, Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit said.

New orders shrank at the sharpest rate since October 2012 as both domestic and foreign orders weakened. Production also declined the most since 2012.

This in turn weighed on payroll numbers. The degree of decline in job cut was the biggest since April 2013.

Ongoing concerns over Brexit and the negative effect on trade of the US-China trade war, confidence about the future was little-changed since August, when sentiment was at its lowest level since November 2012.

Input prices declined at the joint-sharpest since April 2016. Manufacturers were subsequently able to reduce their own charges for a third successive month.

The region's manufacturing downturn was led in the main by rapidly deteriorating operating conditions in Germany.

Germany's manufacturing sector contracted the most since the global financial crisis in 2009. The headline IHS Markit/BME manufacturing PMI declined to 41.7 in September from 43.5 in August. Nonetheless, the reading was above the flash 41.4.

France's manufacturing activity was broadly stable as reductions in output, new orders and pre-production inventories roughly offset a rise in employment and longer supplier delivery times.

The manufacturing PMI came in at 50.1 in September, down from 51.1 in August and the flash 50.3.

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