Germany: Economic sentiment improves in March
Economic sentiment rose to 89.8 in March from February’s 88.9. Consequently, the index remained entrenched below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected healthier sentiment in the industrial sector and dampened sentiment in the construction sector. In the meantime, confidence in the services sector deteriorated in March, while sentiment in the retail sector improved in the surveyed month. Finally, consumer confidence was up in March.
Relating to indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations improved, while the economic uncertainty index fell in March.