Dour mood in Britain dampens EU-wide confidence in May

Weaker economic sentiment in the UK accounted for a significant part of softer confidence in the broader European Union in May.

The European Commission's economic sentiment index for Britain fell from a reading of 110.5 in April to 108.2 for May, with sentiment souring in all sectors, bar industry.

A subindex tracking consumer confidence in Britain fell from -5.0 to -6.1.

Those declines saw the ESI for the whole of the EU retreat from 110.7 in April to 109.7.

Meanwhile, the ESI for the single currency bloc also retreated, albeit by less, from a reading of 109.7 for April to 109.2 for May.

In the euro area, confidence softened by the most in the services sector, with that subindex retreating from a level of 14.2 to 13.0, while that for retail trade fell from 3.1 to 2.0.

Confidence also headed south in construction, with the related subindex falling from -6.0 to -5.7.

Within industry on the other hand spirits were more buoyant, with the subindex improving from 2.6 to 2.8 (consensus: 3.1), while consumer confidence edged higher, rising from -3.6 to -3.3 (consensus: -3.3).