Euro Area: Economic sentiment falls in December
Latest reading: Economic sentiment came in at 93.7 in December, down from November’s 95.6. Consequently, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The decline was driven by weaker sentiment in the industrial, construction and retail sectors. Moreover, consumer confidence fell. That said, confidence in the services sector improved.
In terms of specific countries, sentiment fell in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, while it rose in Spain.
Regarding indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations deteriorated, while the economic uncertainty index increased in December.