The eurozone's economic sentiment index jumped to 98.4 in August, beating forecasts and moving closer to its long-term average. Services confidence and hiring expectations led the improvement, while economic uncertainty fell for a fourth straight month even as price expectations rose.
The eurozone's Economic Sentiment Indicator rose from a revised 97.1 to 98.4 in August, beating a consensus forecast of 97.5 and moving closer to its long-term average of 100. Employment Expectations strengthened more sharply, climbing from 97.4 to 98.9.
Services and hiring outlook strengthen
Services Confidence increased from 5.1 to 5.8, comfortably beating a 4.9 consensus. Industry Confidence improved from -6.1 to -5.3, Retail Trade Confidence from -6.8 to -5.7, and Construction Confidence from -5.2 to -5.0. Consumer Confidence edged up from -15.9 to -15.5.
The broader EU picture was similarly constructive. The bloc-wide ESI rose from 97.2 to 98.2, and Employment Expectations climbed from 97.8 to 99.0. The European Commission said the improvement was driven by stronger confidence in industry, services and retail trade, while construction and consumer sentiment stayed broadly stable. Services recorded broad-based gains across past business conditions, past demand and expected demand, and stronger hiring plans in industry and services lifted the employment outlook.
Uncertainty falls as price expectations climb
Economic uncertainty across the EU fell for a fourth straight month to 17.2, even as consumer inflation expectations rose markedly.
Performance splits across major economies
Sentiment improved most in France, up 2.3 points, followed by Germany at 1.3 points and Italy at 0.8. The Netherlands was broadly unchanged at -0.1, while Poland fell 0.5 points and Spain dropped 2.2 points.
Source: ActionForex
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