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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