Economy

Eurozone economic confidence drops for sixth straight month

Contraction in industry and retail drove decline

Euroarea: European economy likely stalled or even contracted in the third quarter under the cumulative weight of successive interest-rate hikes. Picture: Getty

Euro-area economic confidence slowed for a sixth month as the region struggles under the weight of higher interest rates, still elevated inflation and geopolitical tensions.

A sentiment gauge published by the European Commission inched down to 93.3 in October, from a revised 93.4 a month earlier. Economists had predicted a more significant drop.

The decline was driven by the sub-indicator for industry and retail trade, while services saw an uptick.

The euro region is facing ...