Spain's consumer confidence falls in February

Spain's consumer confidence fell by 6.2 points in February when compared with January, indicating a worsening perception of the economy, the Sociological Research Centre (CIS) said on Monday. The consumer confidence indicator ranges between 0 and 200 points with ratings over 100 points considered as positive perceptions of the economic situation, while ratings below 100 indicating a negative perception. The CIS based their findings on 1,400 interviews which helps forecast consumers' economic behavior and thereby predict the evolution of Spain's economy, which is experiencing a weak recovery that the government hopes to consolidate. The indicator about the current economic situation fell by 7 points to 55 points because of fears over the economy and the country's labor market. The situation of households remained stable. The indicator of people's expectations about the future fell by 5.4 points on a monthly basis to 88 points. A total of 60.2 percent thought the current economic situation is currently worse than six months ago. 41.9 percent of people surveyed believed the economic situation would worsen in the coming six months while 27.9 percent think it will improve.