Netherlands: Economic sentiment eases in December
Economic sentiment came in at 95.1 in December, down from November’s 96.2. Consequently, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected weaker sentiment in the industrial sector and stronger sentiment in the construction sector. Moreover, confidence in the services sector strengthened in December, while sentiment in the retail sector waned in the surveyed month. Finally, consumer confidence was up in December.
Considering indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations weakened, while the economic uncertainty index decreased in December.