(European Commision) Economic sentiment shows stability in Europe, with the index up by 0.2 points to 117.8 in September in the euro area, but unchanged at 116.6 in the EU.
Fig: EU Economic Sentiment and Employment Expectations
The stability of economic sentiment in the EU is attributed to high confidence in the construction sector leveling out with declining confidence in the service and retail segments.
Employment expectations rose in the EU, with the index reaching 113.6 points in September after a surge by 1.0 points. Employment expectations indicator in the euro area rose by 0.8 points to 113.6.
The Economic Sentiment Indicator rose the highest in Spain, Germany, Netherlands, and Poland by 1.7, 0.8, 0.6, and 0.6 points, respectively. France and Italy had a decline of 1.3 and 0.9 points respectively.
The EU service confidence decreased by 1.4 points despite rising demand expectations. Consumer confidence rose by 1.1 amid high expectations of the general economic outlook among households.
The retail trade confidence dropped by 2.8 while the construction confidence increased by 1.8 points, with strong employment expectations among managers in the EU.
The EU financial service confidence dropped by 1.8. The selling price expectations in services have hit an all-time high since July 2008.
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