Eurozone Confidence Falls On Global Turmoil

Economic sentiment in the 17 countries that share the euro worsened to close the first quarter of 2011 as turmoil in the Middle East drove up oil prices and the crisis in Japan sparked fears over the stability of the global economy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Economic sentiment in the 17 countries that share the euro worsened to close the first quarter of 2011 as turmoil in the Middle East drove up oil prices and the crisis in Japan sparked fears over the stability of the global economy, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Wednesday, the European Commission reported that the overall economic sentiment index for the eurozone slipped by 0.6 in March to 107.3, slightly outpacing economists’ forecast decline. The drop was led by struggling countries on the periphery, although confidence in the region’s leading economy, Germany, deteriorated.

The gauge of the current business climate dropped to 1.41 in March from 1.46 previously, while the gauge of sentiment in industry was at 6.6, unchanged from February’s reading. However, the report also showed that inflationary pressure in the region was increasing, with the index of consumers’ price expectations for the coming year jumping to 30.8 in March from 25.7 in the prior month, which is the highest reading since December 2001. Selling price expectations were also at a 16 year high.

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