BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Euro area economic sentiment improved to a five-month high in July largely driven by stronger confidence in industry, services and retail trade, survey data from the European Commission showed Wednesday.
The economic sentiment index rose to 95.8 in July from 94.2 in the previous month. This was the highest reading since February and remained above forecast of 94.5.
The upturn in the ESI was driven by higher confidence in industry, services, retail trade and also among consumers, while confidence in construction declined slightly.
The industrial sentiment indicator posted -10.4 in July, up from -11.8 in June. The score was also better than forecast of -11.0.
At the same time, the consumer sentiment index climbed to -14.7, as initially estimated, from -15.3 in June.
At 4.1, the services confidence index rose to a 5-month high from 3.1 in the previous month. Confidence among retailers also strengthened in July with the index rising to -6.7 from -7.6 a month ago.
Meanwhile, the improvement in sentiment among contractors was only marginal. The corresponding index logged -3.0 compared to -2.9 in June.
Further, the data showed a moderate improvement in employment expectations in July. The indicator advanced to 97.5 from 97.2 in June. The survey data was collected between July 1 and 23.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
