BRUSSELS - CONSUMER and business confidence in the European Union slumped in November to the lowest level in 23 years in the face of looming recession, according to an EU survey on Thursday.

The European Commission's EU economic sentiment indicator tumbled to 70.5 points in November from 77.2 in October, hitting the lowest level since the survey was created in January 1985.

Meanwhile, the commission's eurozone economic sentiment indicator fell to 74.9 points in November from 80.0 points in October, dropping to the lowest level since August 1993.

The slump in eurozone confidence exceeded by a wide margin economists' forecasts for a fall to 78 points, as polled by Dow Jones Newswires. -- AFP