On Tuesday, the country revealed that its exports in June rose by only 3.1 percent, compared with a 20.1 percent increase in May, marking the smallest increase in 16 months. A few days earlier, an index of German manufacturing activity dropped from 54.6 in June to 52 in July — the lowest level since October 2009, marking the third consecutive month of declines.

“The fact that [the German economy is] showing signs of faltering and sources of domestic demand aren’t manifesting itself — people are worried,” said Tu Packard, a senior analyst for Moody’s Analytics…

The worse the economic outlook for Germany, the more difficult it may be for the German Parliament to agree to provide critical financial support to European Union countries in crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has struggled to balance the need to contain the escalating debt crisis across Europe with tremendous resistance from German politicians and taxpayers who resent bailing out distressed countries they think have acted irresponsibly.