Closely watched survey raises fears of the eurozone falling back into recession

A closely watched survey says the muted economic recovery in the 18-country eurozone lost ground in November and that the region faces the prospect of another recession.

Financial information company Markit says Thursday that its purchasing managers' index for the eurozone, a broad gauge of business activity, fell to a 16-month low of 51.4 points in November from 52.1 in October. Though anything above 50 indicates expansion, the survey suggests a recession isn't far away.

Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson says the decline "raises the risk of the region slipping back into a renewed downturn" and that quarterly growth in the final quarter is set to be just 0.1-0.2 percent. Figures last week showed that the eurozone grew by only 0.2 percent in the third quarter.