ZURICH (MaceNews) – Economic sentiment in the Eurozone economies fell in January led by declines in France and Germany, the European Commission said in a report released Thursday.
The Commission’s Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) fell 0.9 points in January to 91.5, with the retail sector the largest contributor to the decline, falling to -18.9 from -12.9 the previous month.
Consumer confidence fell and “reflected a deterioration in all its four components,” declining to a reading of -15.5 in January from -13.8 the month before. Confidence in the retail sector fell as managers assessed the situation of both past business and inventory as having deteriorated “to an extent not seen since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic”, the report said.
One bright spot was industrial confidence, which rose 0.9 points as order books improved for the seventh consecutive month.
Among the largest economies in the bloc, the ESI for France fell 2.6 points, followed by a decline in Germany of 2.3 points. Conversely, confidence in Spain improved 2.4 points and was slightly higher in the Netherlands and Italy, up 0.6 and 0.4 points respectively.
Employment expectations fell as well, led by more pessimistic plans in the retail and construction sectors. The Employment Expectation Index fell 1.6 points to 88.8 in January, according to the report.
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