Eurozone economic confidence rebounds robustly in December

Economic confidence in euro area rebounds robustly in the euro area in December. The Economic Sentiment Indicator rose 1.2 points in the currency block to 107.8. It also rose in the EU by 1.8 points to 109.1. Improvement in the euro area sentiment was driven by marked rises in sentiment in retail trade, industry and among consumers and, to a lesser extent in the services and construction sectors. Amongst the biggest euro-area economies, the ESI rose considerably in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Meanwhile, it stayed stable in Italy and dropped in Spain.

Consumer confidence brightened significantly in the currency block, owing to consumers’ considerably improved expectations about future unemployment and more positive views on the future general economic situation and their own future financial situation. Expectations regarding consumers’ savings stayed quite stable.

Meanwhile, employment plans witnessed a considerable upward revision in construction, whereas they stayed largely unchanged in industry and deteriorated in the retail trade and services sectors. Selling price expectations also rose significantly in retail trade, whereas they stayed largely unchanged in industry and construction and dropped a bit in services. But consumers’ price expectations rose considerably in December.