国际英语新闻：Eurozone consumer confidence improves in July

BRUSSELS, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Consumer confidence in the 16- nation Eurozone improved significantly in July while that of the European Union (EU) also increased, the European Commission said on Thursday.

According to the flash estimate of the Commission, consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone increased from minus 17.3 in June to minus 14.1 in July.

For the 27-member EU, consumer confidence indicator also improved slightly, up to minus 13.8 from minus 14.9 in June.

Analysts said that the improvement can be attributed to signs of easing of the European debt crisis.

Meanwhile, the Commission said that the economic sentiment indicator for the Eurozone in June also increased by 0.3 points, reaching 98.7, while that of the EU remained broadly unchanged at 100.1, down by 0.1 points.