(CN) - Standard & Poor's lowered its forecast for euro zone growth this year after a new survey showed that consumers' confidence in the euro zone economy fell last month for the sixth consecutive time.
The European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs announced a 5-point drop in the Economic Sentiment Indicator to 97.2 points among EU member states. The indicator dropped 4.7 points in the euro area to 98.3 points.
Both numbers are below the 100-point long-term average from 1990-2010.
The survey gauges economic confidence in a number of economic areas, including industry, service industry, retail trade, financial services and construction.
Germany and the United Kingdom saw the greatest dips, dropping 5.7 points and 5.6 points, respectively.
Consumer confidence registered a drop of 4.4 points in the EU and 5.3 points in the euro area.
The slide triggered fears that European economic confidence could be returning to 2008 levels, which hit an all-time low at 63.5 points in the EU and 67.1 points in the euro zone.
"In both regions consumers were pessimistic about the future general economic situation and expressed higher unemployment fears," the commission said in a press release.
Responding to the reports, Standard & Poor's lowered its forecast for euro zone growth to 1.7 percent this year from a previous 1.9 percent.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines April 17, 2024 -
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024 -
