confidence among the eurozones consumers and businesses fell sharply in july due to high inflation and the prospect of a cut in gas supplies from russia the european commission said thursday that its economic sentiment indicatoran aggregate measure of business and consumer confidencefell to 990 in july from 1035 in june economists polled by the wall street journal had expected the index to come in at 1020 the decrease in july was due to significant losses in industry services retail trade and consumer confidence whereas confidence in construction decreased more mildly data from the commission showed sentiment fell markedly in four of the six largest economies of the eurozone spain germany italy and poland the report said it remained broadly stable in france and the netherlands the employment expectations indicator fell in july driven by significantly weakened hiring intentions in retail and services the commission said