Economic sentiment, employment expectations for eurozone and EU improve in August

LONDON (ICIS)–The economic outlook in the EU and eurozone improved in August on stronger industry confidence and brighter employment expectations.

The European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose in both the EU (+0.4 points to 96.9) and eurozone (+0.6 points to 96.6), according to official data on Thursday.

This reflected improved confidence in industry, services and retail trade, while confidence among consumers and in construction remained broadly stable.

Employment prospects rose more significantly in both blocs following several months of decline, with the Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) up 0.9 points to 99.6 in the EU and higher by 1.3 points to 99.2 in the eurozone.

For the largest EU economies, the ESI improved in France (+4.3); Spain (+1.3); the Netherlands (+0.9); and Poland (+0.3). It declined in Germany (-1.7); and Italy (-1.2).

The sharp uptick in France was likely due to the Olympics being hosted in Paris, analysis from Oxford Economics suggested.