German business morale deteriorated unexpectedly in January as the outlook for services darkened, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting that Europe’s largest economy got off to a slow start in 2020 after narrowly avoiding a recession last year. The Ifo institute said its business climate index fell to 95.9 from 96.3 in December. The January reading confounded a Reuters consensus forecast for a rise to 97.0. “The German economy is starting the year in a cautious mood,” Ifo President Clemens Fuest said, adding that companies had become more pessimistic regarding their outlook while their assessment of the current situation had improved slightly. Business confidence in the service sector fell noticeably and the mood among construction managers also cooled. But the struggling manufacturing sector […]