European economic confidence back

European business and consumer confidence firmed in December for a ninth month running, an EU survey showed on Thursday, with a big jump in key recession straggler Britain. The European Commission's economic sentiment indicator for the 16 nations using the euro single currency rose to 91.3 points in December, up 2.5 points from one month earlier. The index hit a record low 64.6 points in March. For the 27- nation EU as a whole, economic confidence also increased according to the commission survey, up 4.1 points to 92.0 points in December -- with the bloc's economy as a whole having emerged from recession. In Britain, which went into reverse between October and November, the index rose by 8.2 points to match the overall EU figure of 92.0 points.