Economic sentiment in the crisis-stricken
eurozone registered another fall in July -- the fourth-consecutive
drop since March -- the European Commission said Monday.
The European Union's executive, which compiles the closely watched
Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI), said the index in the 17-member
currency bloc had fallen 2 points from June, to 87.9.
While "the decline resulted from lower confidence in all sectors
entering the calculation," the eurozone saw particularly sharp falls
in confidence among industry and consumers, the commission said in a
statement.
The ESI readings were negative in Germany (-3.7 points), France
(-2.3 points) and Spain (-1.7 points), but positive in Italy (+1.3
points) and the Netherlands (+0.6 points).
In the 27-member EU, the ESI decreased by 1.4 points, to 89, the
third-consecutive drop since March. However, sentiment picked up in
Britain (+1.7 points) and was almost stable in Poland (-0.1 points).
Another eurozone economic index - the Business Climate Indicator
(BCI) - was also down in July, the commission said. Compared to June,
it fell 0.32 points, to -1.27. The BCI has been in decline since
March.
