Euro Area: Economic sentiment rises in May
Latest reading: Economic sentiment rose to 94.8 in May from April’s upwardly revised 93.8. Accordingly, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The improvement was driven by healthier sentiment in the construction, industrial and retail sectors. Moreover, consumer confidence strengthened in the surveyed month. That said, confidence in the services sector cooled.
In terms of specific countries, sentiment improved in Germany and Italy, while it weakened in France, Spain and the Netherlands.
Regarding indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations strengthened, while the economic uncertainty index fell in May.