A survey of businesses has suggested that the eurozone's recovery is continuing but it has also revealed a widening divergence in economic performance between France and Germany. The latest purchasing managers' index, PMI, from Markit rose to 52.1 in December from 51.7 last month. The eurozone as a whole has started to grow again after a long recession. But Markit's Chris Williamson said the recovery was lopsided. The economy of France contracted in the final quarter of last year and the first three months of 2013. It grew for just one quarter before going back into decline. If this really is another recession that France is in now, it would make it what some call a triple dip. The first phase was the recession at the height of the global financial crisis. In the case of France, that lasted a full year, with growth only returning in the third quarter of 2009. GDP is still about 0.3 per cent lower than it was in the beginning of 2008, just before that first recession. Germany, by contrast is now 2.6 per cent ahead. The most obvious and damaging manifestation of this weakness in France is unemployment. Just under 11 per cent of those who want to work cannot find a job. It is not the worst in the eurozone but is much higher than Germany.