According to the final report from the European Commission, consumer confidence in the eurozone improved in September, recording the 7th increase in the last 8 months.
The consumer confidence index rose to -12.9 points compared to -13.5 points in August. The latest figure was in line with the preliminary estimate and economists' forecasts. Meanwhile, the economic sentiment indicator fell to 96.2 points from 96.5 points in August (revised from 96.6). Consensus estimates suggested that the index would be 96.5. The employment expectations indicator increased by 0.1 point to 99.5 points.
As for the EU countries, the economic sentiment indicator remained at 96.7 points, and the employment expectations indicator increased by 0.3 points to 100.0 points. The steadiness of the economic sentiment indicator resulted from improved confidence in construction and among consumers, offset by a decrease in industry confidence. Confidence in services and retail trade remained broadly stable. For the largest EU economies, the economic sentiment indicator worsened markedly in France (-1.4) and Germany (-1.2), while it improved significantly in Poland (+2.0), Spain (+1.9), Italy (+1.2) and, more moderately, in the Netherlands (+0.5).
The data also showed that the indicator of economic uncertainty rose in September to 17.2 from 16.9 in August. Managers’ uncertainty about their future business situation remained virtually unchanged in industry, services and construction, while it increased in retail trade. Consumers’ uncertainty about their future financial situation picked up sharply in September.