The economic sentiment indicator (ESI) declined marginally in both the European Union (by 0.3 points to 96.2) and the euro area (by 0.6 points to 95.6), according to the business and consumer survey results for April conducted by the European Commission.

The employment expectations indicator (EEI) declined slightly more markedly in both areas: for the EU, it fell by 0.5 points to 101.7, and for the euro area, it dropped by 0.7 points to 101.8. Contrary to the ESI, the EEI continued to score above its long-term average, an official release said.

In the EU, the marginal decline of the ESI reflected slightly lower confidence in industry and services, while retail trade, construction and consumer confidence remained broadly stable.

For the largest EU economies, the ESI deteriorated significantly in France (minus 4.8) and more moderately in Italy (minus 1.3), while it improved markedly in Spain (2.3), Germany (1.5) and Poland (1.5). The ESI remained broadly stable in the Netherlands (0.3).

Industry confidence declined (minus 0.7), as managers’ assessment of the current level of overall order books deteriorated strongly, while their production expectations and assessments of the stocks of finished products remained broadly stable.

Consumer confidence remained virtually unchanged (0.1), as the improvement of consumers’ views on their household’s past financial situation and intentions to make major purchases improved was counterbalanced by markedly lower expectations about the general economic situation in their country.

Consumer expectations concerning household’s financial situation remained broadly unchanged.

Retail trade confidence (minus 0.3) was broadly stable, as a marked improvement in retailers’ assessment of the past business situation was offset by a strong decline in their business expectations for the next three months.

Retailers’ assessment of the volume of stocks was broadly unchanged.

The European Commission’s economic uncertainty indicator (EUI) decreased further in April by 0.7 points to 18.1. Managers’ uncertainty about their future business situation decreased in all sectors as did consumers’ uncertainty about their future financial situation.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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