Press Release: July 2004: Small rebound of economic sentiment in the euro area, slight deterioration in the EU

The economic sentiment indicator (ESI) for the euro area edged up by 0.4 points in July. This small improvement comes after an equivalent small deterioration in June. The ESI has been hovering around its long-term average of 100 since April. Following its small upturn in May and an equally small decline in June, economic sentiment in the EU experienced a small setback. As in the case of the euro area, the EU-wide ESI has remained more or less steady during the past four months. The different development of the ESI in the two areas was almost entirely due to confidence in the retail sector. While the latter improved in the euro area, it worsened in the EU. Almost all other components of the ESI developed in identical ways in both areas. In particular, industrial confidence and consumer confidence remained unchanged; while construction confidence deteriorated slightly. Confidence in the services sector improved marginally in the euro area and remained unchanged in the EU.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/economy_finance/indicators/businessandconsumersurveys_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/comm/economy_finance/indicators/businessandconsumersurveys_en.htm

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