Brussels, 29/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 29 June, the European Commission indicated that the business confidence expressed by consumers and employers in the EU and the euro area had continued to improve for the third month in a row. The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) published by the Commission illustrated that the ESI had increased to 73.3 points from 70.2 points in May. Last month it increased by 2.9 points (2.7 points in April, the first rise since May 2007). The ESI increased by 3.2 points in the EU to 71.1 points. The increase in the ESI resulted from an improvement in sentiment in services and among consumers, which rose in both regions by 3 points. Sentiment increased in industry (1 point in both the EU and Euro-zone). Sentiment in construction remained broadly unchanged in the Euro-zone and rose by 1 point in the EU. The retail trade also remained stable in the EU, though it declined in the euro area by 2 points. The majority of Member States registered an improvement. Among the largest Member States, France and Germany (+3.2 points), and the UK (+2.7) recorded significant increases in sentiment, while the rise was less marked in Poland (+2.0), Spain, the Netherlands (+1.5) and Italy (+1.1).
The business climate index, which measures the sentiment of business leaders alone, also rose for three consecutive months in a row in the Euro-zone to -2.97 points compared to May's -3.11 points. In March, it reached its lowest ever level since January 1985. (L.C./trans/rh)