Europe’s outlook falls below forecasts

EUROPEAN confidence in the economic outlook fell more than economists forecast in November as the 17-nation eurozone edged closer to a recession and the fiscal crisis started to hit larger countries.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the euro area fell to 93.7 from 94.8 in October, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday.

That’s the lowest since November 2009. Economists had forecast a drop to 93.9, the median of 31 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed.