—Germany Sees Sentiment Stagnate
By Marco Babic
ZURICH (MaceNews) – Economic sentiment in the Euro-area was a positive note, rising in December from the previous month driven by “markedly higher” industrial and consumer confidence, the European Commission said in its latest Business and Consumer Survey report.
Economic sentiment picked up 2.7 points in December to 90.4, reversing some of the November decline, and recovering markedly from the 64.9 April reading. Sentiment in the broader European Union also improved, gaining 2.8 points to a reading of 89.5.
Among major economies, Italy saw the largest increase, rising 6.8 points, followed by Spain and the Netherlands, up 3.3 and 2.5 points respectively.
Germany, on the other hand, saw sentiment stagnate, gaining only 0.1 points for the month. This stands in contrast to both the Ifo and ZEW reports for December, which saw both business and economic sentiment improve. ZEW will issue its next report on January 19, followed by Ifo on the 25th.
The outlook for employment in the Euro-area also improved in December, with the index rising 1.4 points to 88.3, led by “significantly improved employment plans in the industrial and retail sectors, according to the commission.
CONSUMER SENTIMENT
Consumer sentiment for the countries sharing the euro improved to -13.9 from -17.6 in December, having improved nearly to the pre-COVID level of -11.6 registered in March. This reflected a recovery in all four sectors, with the largest increase seen for general economic conditions.
Link to full report: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/full_bcs_2020_12_en.pdf
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Contact this reporter: marco@macenews.com.
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