Eurozone Businesses Lose Confidence as Fresh Lockdowns Bite
November 27 2020 - 05:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Hannon
Eurozone businesses were more pessimistic about their prospects
in November, as a surge in coronavirus infections led governments
to impose tougher restrictions on households and companies.
The European Commission on Friday said its Economic Sentiment
Indicator, a measure of consumer and business confidence in the
currency area, fell to 87.6 in November from 91.1 in October. It
was the first decline since April, when tougher restrictions were
last in place.
Service providers and retailers experienced the largest loss of
confidence, but manufacturers and construction companies also grew
more gloomy about the outlook.
The decline in confidence is in line with other indicators that
suggest the imposition of fresh lockdowns is likely to push the
eurozone back into contraction during the final quarter of
2020.
The European Central Bank has already said it will announce new
stimulus measures at its Dec. 10 policy meeting, but its subsequent
stance will depend on how strongly the eurozone economy rebounds
when the new lockdowns are lifted.
Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2020 05:15 ET (10:15 GMT)
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