Eurozone economic confidence at 15-month low

The eurozone economic confidence index weakened to a 15-month low in June, the lowest since March 2021, showing falling morale among construction managers, consumers and retailers.

The index decreased from 105 in May to 104.0 in June but exceeded forecasts of 103. Increases in industrial and services confidence offset the above. The industrial sentiment index improved to 7.4 from 6.5, with the services confidence index also improving to 14.8 from 14.1 the previous month.

Simultaneously, the consumer confidence index dropped more than expected from -21.2 in May to -23.6 in June. Construction confidence fell, plunging to 3.7 from 6.3 due to a decline in the level of order books and a sharp decrease in employment expectations, also indicating that inflationary pressures are persisting, and likely to weigh on demand and sentiment further ahead.

In the meantime, the EU27 economic confidence index decreased by 1.7 points to 102.5.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the US Commerce Department revised marginally downwards the first quarter 2022 real GDP adjusted to inflation to a 1.6 per cent contraction from the previously reported 1.5 per cent. GDP fell slightly by more than was...