Confidence in the European economy retreated further in September, hitting the lowest level since just after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, according to an EU survey today.
Following in the path of other recent weak data, the European Commission's euro zone economic sentiment indicator eased in September to 87.7 points from 88.5 points in August.
The drop, which brought the index to the lowest level since November 2001, was worse than economists' forecasts of a fall to 88.
Meanwhile, overall confidence in the economy of the broader 27-nation European Union also pulled back in September, falling to 85.2 points from 86.7 in August - hitting the lowest level since December 1993.
'In both the EU and the euro area, the overall decrease in sentiment was characterised by a fall in confidence in industry, services and construction', the commission said in a statement.
The European Commission's separate monthly business climate indicator for the euro zone also declined, dropping to -0.79 points in September from -0.28 in August.
