German business confidence drops for 5th consecutive month

BERLIN (AP) — A closely watched survey shows that German business confidence has dropped for the fifth consecutive month amid persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and a resurgence of coronavirus infections in Europe’s biggest economy. The Ifo institute said Wednesday that its monthy confidence index dropped to 96.5 points in November from 97.7 last month. Companies’ assessment of both their current situation and their outlook for the next six months worsened. It was the lowest figure since February. The survey is based on responses from about 9,000 companies in various business sectors.