Europe sees rebound in high street confidence
CONSUMER confidence across the Eurozone rose this month, an official “flash” estimate revealed yesterday.
After falling to a five month low in January of -11.2, morale on the single currency area’s high streets rebounded to -9.9.
Confidence has closed in on November’s 35 month high of -9.4, and is above the long term average of -12.5.
Sentiment was weaker across the European Union as a whole, yet rose to -12.4 from an upwardly revised -12.6 in January.
“While details are not yet available, the likelihood is that sentiment was supported by some recent better news on the jobs front,” speculated Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.
Meanwhile, the Eurozone’s trade deficit soared to €13.3bn in December, from €10.5bn the previous month – the widest current account gap since November 2008.