July construction PMI 42.1Prior 44.8The construction downturn in Germany deepens in July, with firms recording further declines in total activity and new orders. The only bright spot was a renewed expansion in civil engineering activity. The main drag continued to come from the housing sector, which saw activity fall sharply and at the quickest rate for three months. The only sector to buck the trend was civil engineering, which recorded a renewed increase for the first time in three months. However, at least the overall rate of increase slowed further from April's recent peak to its lowest since February.