Maria Martinez contributed to this article. In June, business and family confidence in the Eurozone rose substantially, reaching a 21-year high. The European Commission announced on Tuesday that its economic sentiment indicator, which measures business and consumer confidence, increased to 117.9 in June from 114.5 in May. For the fourth month in a row, the reading is much higher than its long-term average.
The indicator outperformed the consensus prediction of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, who predicted a reading of 116.5. Despite the fact that the gain was primarily driven by a surge in confidence in the services sector, confidence rose across the board in all business sectors and among consumers. According to the research, sentiment climbed in five of the six main eurozone economies, with only Spain seeing a tiny dip. The measure of employment expectations increased as well, remaining above its long-term average. According to the research, the gain was mostly driven by more positive hiring forecasts in industry and services, which outweighed the modest drop in construction. Maria Martinez can be reached at maria.martinez@wsj.com.
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