ZURICH (MaceNews) – Economic sentiment for the countries sharing the euro improved further in August, having recovered about 60 percent of the combined decline in March and April, the European Commission reported Friday.
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose 5.3 points to 87.7 in August, with industry, retail trade and services driving the increase while construction sentiment was lower and consumer sentiment improving slightly to -14.7 from -15.0.
Among the largest Euro Area economies, sentiment improved the most in France, up 9.3 points, followed by the Netherlands and Germany, up 7.1 and 5.9 points, respectively to 89.8 and 94.3.
The outlook for employment improved as well with the Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) gaining for the fourth consecutive month, up 2.9 points to 89.6 for the Euro area.
Sentiment in the broader European Union also rose, improving to 86.9 from 81.9 in July, with the EEI up 2.7 points to 89.5.
The European Commission will release September results on September 29 at 11:00 am Central European Time.