Levels of employment in the private sectors of both France and Germany declined by the sharpest rate in nearly three years in August.

This is according to data in two separate reports from research firm Markit, which surveyed a number of firms across the economy.

Faced with lower workloads, French private sector firms made cutbacks in staffing levels at the sharpest rate in 34 months, ie. since December 2009, while in Germany, the decline was marginal, but still the greatest seen in 33 months.

Senior economist at Markit Tim Moore comments on Germany that the “halt to the private sector downturn seems to have a fragile veneer”, while his colleague Jack Kennedy adds a further concerning factor that in France, service providers’ future expectations “slipped into negativity for the first time since early 2009”.