Portugal: Economic sentiment improves in December
Economic sentiment rose to 96.6 in December from November’s 96.2. As a result, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected healthier confidence in the services and retail sectors in December. Additionally, consumer sentiment was up in the surveyed month. That said, declining sentiment in the industrial sector and dampened sentiment in the construction sector were noted.
Relating to indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations deteriorated, while the economic uncertainty index improved in December.