Eurozone economic confidence rebounds in September

First Published:	29/09/2006 13:10:40
Confidence in the eurozone's economic outlook rebounded in September, particularly in industry but also for the retail and construction sectors, an EU survey released Friday showed. The European Commission's economic sentiment indicator (ESI) was measured at 111.0 for the EU as a whole, a rise of 1.6 points over the August index. "All sectors except for the services sector contributed to the rise of the ESI in the EU," the European Commission said in a statment. "The increase in confidence was particularly strong in the industry sector, where the indicator rose by three points, but the retail and construction sectors also contributed considerably to the imporvement." For the 12 country euro zone, the economic sentiment indicator was also up over August, by one point to 109.3. At individual couontry level the picture was also generally positive. All the large member states except Spain registered improved sentiment, with Britain heading the list with its national index up 3.9 points. Industrial confidence in the EU is now above the last peak reached in May 2000. Separately the EU's executive arm said that its euro area business climate indicator (BCI) was also up in September to 1.46 after two months of decline. "The sustained high level of the BCI suggests that industrial production growth has picked up during the third quarter of 2006, despite an initial decline in July," the Commission said.
Source:  EUbusiness http://www.eubusiness.com