German business morale unexpectedly fell in July amid increasing pessimism about the performance of Europe’s largest economy, a survey of around 9,000 managers showed today.

The Ifo institute said its business climate index sank to 87 in July from 88.6 in June, compared with a reading of 88.9 forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

“The German economy is stuck in the crisis,” said Ifo president Clemens Fuest.

This is the third consecutive decline in Germany’s most prominent leading indicator.

“While one is none, three is clearly a trend,” ING’s global head of macro Carsten Brzeski said. “The German economy is back as the euro zone’s…