Manufacturing activity in the eurozone remained close to stagnation in January, while businesses cut their prices at the sharpest rate in over 18 months, an indication that the European Central Bank faces a long struggle to raise the currency area’s inflation rate. Data firm Markit, which surveys more than 3,000 manufacturers across the eurozone, said Monday its purchasing managers index rose to 51.0 in January from 50.6 in December. A reading below 50.0 indicates activity is declining, while a reading above that level indicates it is increasing. The weakness of eurozone manufacturing was underlined by the fact that activity declined in France, Italy, Austria and Greece. Activity increased at a slower pace in Germany, leaving Spain to account for much of the overall pickup, aided by the Netherlands. The ECB on Jan. 22 launched a program of quantitative easing in which it will buy more than 1 trillion euros ($1.14 trillion) of bonds using newly created money. Its main goal is to lift the inflation rate to just under 2%. In January, consumer prices were 0.6% lower than a year earlier.

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