Economics
Euro-Area Sentiment Drops for Ninth Month Amid Bleaker Outlook
- Confidence gauge falls to 105.5, lowest since October 2016
- Decline driven by worsening mood in manufacturing, services
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Economic confidence in the euro area sank for a ninth month in March, suggesting the region’s slowdown hasn’t yet bottomed out.
Sentiment soured markedly in industry, and sharp drops in Italy and Germany highlight the precarious situation in two of the region’s largest economies. With the former in recession and the latter narrowly avoiding one, the European Central Bank cut its euro-area growth outlook this month and repeated a warning about downside risks.