Euro Area: Economic sentiment falls in April
Latest reading: Economic sentiment came in at 93.6 in April, down from March’s 95.0. Accordingly, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The decline was broad-based and came amid heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU. Sentiment in the construction, industrial, retail and services sectors cooled. Moreover, consumer confidence worsened.
In terms of specific countries, sentiment worsened in France, Italy and the Netherlands, while it improved in Germany and Spain.
Regarding indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations were unchanged, while the economic uncertainty index rose to an over one-year high in April.