In Europe, consumer confidence drops

Consumer confidence in Europe dropped to a low for the year in September, Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Commission, said Thursday. For the 27-member European Union, the index of consumer confidence fell from minus 16.8 to minus 19. For the 17-member eurozone, which shares the euro as currency, the index fell from minus 16.5 to minus 18.9. While hitting a low for 2011, the index is far above its February 2009 historic low, when both indexes for each region were below minus 60. The report for September is considered a "flash estimate," that could be revised in a month when more data is available.