Press Release: August 2009: The Economic Sentiment Indicator continues to recover

In August, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the EU and the euro area continued to improve, registering the fifth consecutive increase in both series since the trough in March. The ESI increased markedly – by 5.9 points in the EU, and by 4.6 points in the euro area – to 80.9 and 80.6 respectively. However, in both areas, the level is still far below the long-term average.