Confidence in eurozone on the rise
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 30, 2009 00:00
BRUSSELS - European business and consumer confidence climbed for the third month in a row in June but is still near the lowest point in two decades, the European Commission said Monday.
It said main players in the economy "seem to be gaining confidence that the crisis is easing" as industrial and services companies said they expected to be employing more people in future and consumers worried less about losing their jobs.
More optimism among consumers, the services sector and industry pushed an indicator of economic sentiment to 73.3 in June from 70.2 in May in the 16 nations that use the euro, the EU executive said. Across the 27-nation European Union it rose to 71.1 from 67.9.
Despite the improvement, economists at Unicredit said this was still a "clearly recessionary" level.
In fact, a separate EU survey of euro-zone industry managers warned it is too soon to call an end to the economic downturn. Manufacturers' forecast for orders hit new record lows, it said, warning that industrial output is likely to stay subdued in June after shrinking in May.
More consumers said they saw the overall economy and their personal finances getting better over the next year. They also said they were slightly more likely to make major purchases - such as a car or household goods - now and in the next 12 months.
But euro-zone consumers said they were not more willing to buy a house or carry out home improvements. The EU's three largest economies - Germany, Britain and France - "recorded significant increases in sentiment," the EU said, with smaller hikes in Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy.
The construction industry saw no major change in mood as the recession holds back the building of new homes and offices. Retailers in the euro-zone were more pessimistic than last month.
The financial services sector, not included in the overall economic sentiment survey, is also feeling more optimistic, the EU said, with managers saying they believed business has improved over the last three months.
The European Commission survey of confidence among the euro area's industry managers also rose, from minus 3.11 in May to minus 2.97 in June, but is still far below previous lows from 1993.
"This suggest that year-on-year industrial production growth will still have been negative in May and will remain subdued in June," it said.
More optimism among consumers, the services sector and industry pushed an indicator of economic sentiment to 73.3 in June from 70.2 in May in the 16 nations that use the euro, the EU executive said. Across the 27-nation European Union it rose to 71.1 from 67.9.
Despite the improvement, economists at Unicredit said this was still a "clearly recessionary" level.
In fact, a separate EU survey of euro-zone industry managers warned it is too soon to call an end to the economic downturn. Manufacturers' forecast for orders hit new record lows, it said, warning that industrial output is likely to stay subdued in June after shrinking in May.
More consumers said they saw the overall economy and their personal finances getting better over the next year. They also said they were slightly more likely to make major purchases - such as a car or household goods - now and in the next 12 months.
But euro-zone consumers said they were not more willing to buy a house or carry out home improvements. The EU's three largest economies - Germany, Britain and France - "recorded significant increases in sentiment," the EU said, with smaller hikes in Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy.
The construction industry saw no major change in mood as the recession holds back the building of new homes and offices. Retailers in the euro-zone were more pessimistic than last month.
The financial services sector, not included in the overall economic sentiment survey, is also feeling more optimistic, the EU said, with managers saying they believed business has improved over the last three months.
The European Commission survey of confidence among the euro area's industry managers also rose, from minus 3.11 in May to minus 2.97 in June, but is still far below previous lows from 1993.
"This suggest that year-on-year industrial production growth will still have been negative in May and will remain subdued in June," it said.