The 19-country eurozone lost some economic momentum¹ in August, largely because of a slowdown in Germany, a closely watched survey showed, days ahead of another possible stimulus² package from the European Central Bank.

一份密切关注欧元区的调查报告表明，拥有19个成员国的欧元区8月份经济失去了部分活力，很大程度是因为德国经济增速下降。这份报告是在欧洲央行实行可能的刺激方案之前几天发布的。

Financial information company IHS Markit said its purchasing managers' index — a broad gauge³ of economic activity — for the eurozone fell to a 19-month low of 52.9 points in August from 53.2 the previous month.

金融信息公司IHS Markit声称，欧元区的采购经理人指数--经济活动的一个宏观指标--在8月份降到了19个月以来的最低水平，只有52.9，而上个月是53.2。

The fall was unexpected as the initial estimate for August was 53.3.

这种下降是出人意料的，因为初步估计8月份的指数是53.3。

In spite of the fall, the eurozone is still growing, albeit⁴ sluggishly⁵ as anything above 50 indicates expansion.

尽管这一指数有所下降，但是欧元区经济也在一直增长——虽然增长很缓慢，只稍稍高于50。

The firm did not assign any fundamental reason to the slowdown, such as uncertainty⁶ related to Britain's decision in June to leave the European Union, but did note that Germany was "perhaps the biggest cause for concern" as output growth slowed to a 15-month low.

IHS Markit没有说明经济放缓的任何一个基本原因，比如6月份英国“脱欧”导致的不稳定，但是却指出德国“可能是经济放缓最大的原因”，因为其产出增长率是15个月以来的最低水平。

Italy and France also saw modest rates of growth while Spain remained the "standout performer'' with another strong quarter of growth at around 0.7 percent.

意大利和法国的经济增长仍见一般，西班牙的表现依然“十分亮眼”，季度增长率约为0.7%。

The firm's chief economist⁷, Chris Williamson, said the survey overall was "clearly disappointing'' and suggested it may fuel expectations of a further stimulus package from the European Central Bank this week.

IHS Markit首席经济师克里斯·威廉姆森称，报告整体上“明显让人失望”，他还暗示，这将燃起人们对欧洲央行于本周出台经济刺激方案的期待。

"The survey data will fuel expectations that the ECB would prefer not to wait before injecting more stimulus into the economy, adding pressure for policymakers to act later this week to help shore up confidence in both the outlook for the economy and the bank's commitment to its inflation target," he said.

他表示：“调查数据增强了对欧洲央行本周的经济刺激方案的期待，欧洲央行会尽快采取更多经济刺激措施，向政策制定者们施加压力，使他们行动起来帮助重建（人们对世界经济）经济前景的信心，以及央行完成通货膨胀目标承诺的信心。"