The preliminary reading of the European Commission’s Eurozone consumer confidence for September fell for the fourth month in a row to -2.9 from -2.0 in August. Although not as big a miss as August’s report, this was the second weaker than expected report in a row. The last time consumer confidence was this low was in May of 2017.
Consumer confidence further confirms the undertows of worsening European economic activity; echoing the weaker Eurozone retail sales and industrial production report from earlier this month. If this release is any indication, no one should hold high expectations for next month’s retail sales. While the level of the confidence index is still very strong relative to recent history and therefore is no reason to panic about the end of the Eurozone’s economic expansion, the direction it’s moving definitely represents slowing consumer spending prospects.
