Not that anyone needed another reminder about the parlous state of Europe’s largest economy, but just in case, Germany’s most prominent leading indicator fell a second month in January, data out Thursday showed, underscoring recession vibes.

The Ifo expectations index ticked down to 83.5, defying economists’ projection for a trivial improvement. It was the worst reading on the gauge since September.

The business climate index likewise fell a second month. “Companies assessed their current situation as worse,” some characteristically blunt color accompanying the release said.

The update came on the heels of underwhelming PMIs, which suggested private sector business activity in Germany contracted again in early January.

A quick glance under the hood of the Ifo report showed sentiment among German manufacturers improved at the margins this month, even as order books continued to shrink and capacity utilization softened.

For services firms, it’s a different story. “The business climate in the service sector clouded over considerably,” the released lamented, citing “markedly worse assessments of the current situation” tied to pervasive dissatisfaction with backlogs.

“We actually expected a positive first quarter, but… it now looks like it could be a negative growth rate,” Ifo President Clemens Fuest told Bloomberg TV.

The German economy hasn’t had a good quarter in quite a while. The country’s grappling with what ING describes as a “slowcession.”

Speaking of ING, the bank’s Carsten Brzeski weighed in on Thursday. “Looking beyond the near-term, we expect the current state of stagnation and shallow recession to continue,” he said.

If the economy shrinks this year, it’d mark “the first time since the early 2000s that Germany has gone through a two-year recession,” shallow or not, Brzeski added.

The Ifo release was emphatic: “The German economy is stuck in recession,” it said.