Eurozone economic sentiment dropped further in July

Economic sentiment in the crisis-stricken eurozone registered another fall in July, the fourth consecutive drop since March, the European Commission said Monday.

The European Union’s executive, which compiles the closely watched Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI), said the index in the 17-member currency bloc had fallen 2 points from June, to 87.9.

While the decline resulted from lower confidence in all sectors entering the calculation, the eurozone saw particularly sharp falls in confidence among industry and consumers, the commission said in a statement.

The ESI readings were negative in Germany (-3.7 points), France (-2.3 points) and Spain (-1.7 points), but positive in Italy (+1.3 points) and the Netherlands (+0.6 points).

In the 27 member EU, the ESI decreased by 1.4 points, to 89, the third-consecutive drop since March. However, sentiment picked up in Britain (+1.7 points) and was almost stable in Poland (-0.1 points).

Another eurozone economic index, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) was also down in July, the commission said. The BCI has been in decline since March.