Dow Jones Newswires: Eurozone economic sentiment stabilizes in May

United States

By Maria Martinez

 Confidence among the eurozone's consumers and businesses broadly stabilized in May. The European Commission said Monday that its economic sentiment indicator--an aggregate measure of business and consumer confidence--rose slightly to 105.0 in May from a revised figure of 104.9 in April. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected the index to come in at 104.9.               Confidence has weakened among industry managers, while it improved for consumers. Services, retail trade and construction confidence remained virtually unchanged, European Commission's data showed. Sentiment rose markedly in Spain and, to a lesser extent, in France and Italy, while it remained virtually unchanged in Germany. The employment expectations indicator improved mildly in May, thanks to improved employment plans for the next three months in services and construction, the European Commission said. Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com