Following a precipitous collapse of the US consumer confidence this month (see posts
here and
here for details), the EU has just posted a series of consumer, business and economic sentiment indicators that are showing a massive drop in overall economic activity across the board. Here are the details.
Starting with Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) first:
- August ESI reading for EU27 came in at 97.3 (contraction territory) down from July 102.3. 3mo MA for the index is now at 101.4 and yoy the index is down 5.7%.
- Euro area ESI is also in contraction zone at 98.3 for August, lowest since May 2010, down from 103.0 in July and off 3.8% yoy. 3mo MA of the series is now at 102.2.
- ESI for Germany is still in expansion at 107.0 in August, but down from 112.7 in July and down on 3mo MA of 111.4. The index is now down 3.1% yoy. This is the lowest reading since July 2010.
- ESI for Spain is showing deeper contraction in August, reaching 92.7, down from July 93.0 and registering uninterrupted contractionary performance since (oh, sh**t) September 2007. ESI, however is up in Spain yoy by 1.6%.
- ESI for France latest reading is at 105.9 for July, which was down from 107.4 in June.
- ESI for Italy signals recession at 94.1, down from 94.8 in July and off 4.8% yoy. 3mo MA is at 96.1 and the index has remained in contraction zone for consecutive May 2011.
Two charts to illustrate - one of complete historical series, and one of a more recent snapshot:
What the historical series show is a worrisome trend:
- Before January 2001, Euro area average ESI reading was 102.1, post-introduction of the Euro, the average reading is 98.9. This implies a swing from shallow expansionary optimism in pre-Euro period average, to a shallow pessimism in post-Euro introduction period.
- In Germany, prior to 2001, the average ESI was 103.9 and post January 2001 the average stands at 98.0
- In Spain, prior to 2001, the average ESI was 101.9 and post January 2001 the average stands at 98.7
- In France, prior to 2001, the average ESI was 99.4 and post January 2001 the average stands at 101.9 - the only major economy to buck the trend
- In Italy, prior to 2001, the average ESI was 101.5 and post January 2001 the average stands at 99.5
Next, consider the Consumer Confidence Indicator (CSI):
- CSI for the EU27 has fallen from -12 in July to -17 in August, the lowest reading since September 2009 and well below 3mo MA of -13.4. In August 2010 index stood at -11.
- CSI for Euro area is also at -17 in August, down from -11 in July.
- August reading is the lowest since June 2010, as Euro area consumers are generally less optimistic than the EU27 average. EU27 average historical reading is -11.1 and Euro area average historical reading is -12.0. Prior to January 2001 the historical averages were: -10.7 for EU27 and -11.3 for Euro area. post-introduction of the Euro, average historical readings are now at -11.7 for the EU 27 and -13.1 for the Euro area, suggesting that the Euro introduction was not exactly a boost to consumer confidence in either the EU27 or in the Euro area.
- Germany's CSI came in at +0.5 in August, down from 1.4 in July. The index is now well below 3mo MA of 1.1 but is well above -3 reading attained a year ago.
- Spain's CSI is now at -17, down from -13.4 in July and below 3mo MA of -14.1. In August 2010 the index stood at -19.8, so there has been a yoy improvement in the degree of consumer pessimism.
- France's CSI stands at -18.4 (recall that France is the only large Euro area economy with strong focus on consumer spending) in July (latest data), down from 17.60 in June and an improvement on -25.8 yoy.
- Italy's CSI is reading at -28.8 in August, down from -27.4 in July, down on -26.6 3moMA and well below August 2010 reading of -21.3.
Again, two charts to illustrate:
Some historical trends concerning the Consumer Confidence Index:
- As noted above, consumer confidence had shifted, on average, from cautious optimism in pre-Euro era to cautious pessimism since January 2001.
- In Germany, before January 2001, consumer pessimism (average) stood at -7.26. Post January 2001, the average pessimism became deeper at -10.83. In effect, then, that 'exports-led' economic growth model for Germany has meant the wholesale historical undermining of consumer interests.
- In Spain and Italy, the picture of long-term historical trends is identical to Germany, with levels of pessimism being higher than in Germany across entire history.
- In France, consumer pessimism in pre-2001 period stood, on average, at -19.36 - deeper than in other Big 4 EU economies. Post 2001, average pessimism actually declined to -16.94, still the heaviest level of pessimism (on average) across the Big 4 economies.
Lastly, consider Business Confidence Indicator (BCI):
- EU27 BCI has fallen from +0.1 in July to -2.50 in August, hitting the lowest reading since July 2010. The index is now down compared to +0.17 3mo MA and is below -2.10 reading in August 2010.
- Euro area BCI has declined from +0.90 in July to -2.90 in August, behind +0.5 3mo MA. A year ago, BCI reading was -2.60, making current reading the lowest since July 2010.
- Germany's BCI has declined from +9.60 in July to +4.60 in August, behind +8.67 3mo MA. A year ago, BCI reading was +3.80, making current reading the lowest since September 2010.
- Spain's BCI remained unchanged in August at -13.90, behind +-12.27 3mo MA. A year ago, BCI reading was -13.0, making current and previous month readings the lowest since June 2010.
- France's BCI has declined from +5.10 in June to +0.8 in July (latest data), making the latest reading the lowest since December 2010.
- Italy's BCI has declined from -4.50 in July to -4.80 in August, behind -3.93 3mo MA. A year ago, BCI reading was -7.0.
Historically:
- Business confidence readings averaged -5.62 across the EU27 in pre-2001 period, and have since then fallen to -6.77 average reading for the period post-2001. BCI for the Euro area averaged -5.60 in pre-2001 period and -6.23 in post-2001 period. This, again, shows that the introduction of the Euro did not have a positive effect on business confidence.
- In Germany and Italy, pre-2001 BCI averages were better than post-2001 averages, while in Spain there was an improvement in the levels of business pessimism post-2001. In France, pre-2001 average BCI was -6.59 and post-2001 average BCI is -6.41 - implying statistically identical readings.
