Eurozone economic confidence falls for sixth month

(BRUSSELS) - Consumer and business confidence in the eurozone economy fell for the sixth consecutive month in August, an EU survey showed on Tuesday amid rising fears of an economic slowdown.

The decline resulted from a "broad-based deterioration in sentiment across the sectors," particularly in services, retail trade and among consumers, the European Commission said. Only the construction sector saw an improvement.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell by 4.7 points to 98.3 in the 17-nation eurozone compared to 103 points in July. In the wider 27-nation EU, the ESI fell by 5.0 points to 97.3.

"In both regions consumers were pessimistic about the future general economic situation and expressed higher unemployment fears," the commission said.

"Their expected financial situation and their saving expectations were also assessed more negatively than in the past months," it said.

Confidence in industry remains above its long-term average but worsened in the eurozone and the EU "on the back of a drop in managers' appraisal of the level of order books and production expectations."

"An increasing number of managers assessed their stocks as being too large. Managers were also more pessimistic about their export order books and past production," the commission said.

Germany, Europe's top economy, recorded the strongest fall in sentiment among among eurozone nations, from 112.7 to 107. Among EU countries outside the single currency area, Britain reported the biggest fall, from 98.5 to 92.9.