Economic sentiment, employment expectations for eurozone and EU stable in September

LONDON (ICIS)–The economic outlook in the EU and eurozone was stable in September, as higher construction and consumer confidence was offset by a decrease in industry.

The European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) was flat in the EU at 96.7 points and fell by 0.3 points in the eurozone to 96.2, according to official data on Friday.

“The steadiness of the ESI in the EU resulted from improved confidence in construction and among consumers, offset by a decrease in industry confidence. Confidence in services and retail trade remained broadly stable,” the Commission said in a statement.

For the largest EU economies, the ESI worsened in France (-1.4) and Germany (-1.2), while it improved in Poland (+2.0), Spain (+1.9), Italy (+1.2) and the Netherlands (+0.5).

Employment prospects for September were also broadly unchanged, with the Commission’s Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) up 0.3 points to 100.0 in the EU and higher by 0.1 points to 99.5 in the eurozone.