Eurozone economic confidence up, shows signs of slowing
(BRUSSELS) - The 17-nation eurozone economy continues to make progress but there are signs of a slowdown over the past two months, a key survey showed Thursday.
The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicator, a measure of overall economic confidence, rose 0.8 points to 98.5 in November, building on gains since May, it said.
However, "while the upward trend observed since May has been preserved, the improvement in confidence has noticeably decelerated over the past two months," it said.
The eurozone economy eked out meagre growth of just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, short of forecasts for 0.2 percent and down from 0.3 percent in the second when the bloc finally escaped a record 18-month recession.
At 98.5 points, November's reading was above analyst forecasts for 97.8 points compiled by Dow Jones analysts but still below the 100 points trend line.
Among the larger eurozone economies, Germany gained 0.8 points, Italy 1.9, Spain 1.4 and The Netherlands 1.3.
Struggling France, the second largest economy in the bloc after Germany, continued to lag, dropping 0.9 points.
For the wider 28-nation European Union economy, the ESI added 0.4 points to 102.1.
Analysts said the result suggested the eurozone economy would hold to positive territory in the fourth quarter after the worrying slowdown in the third.
The November reading hit a "27-month high, thereby supporting hopes that the eurozone can gradually establish economic recovery despite growth relapsing to just 0.1 percent in the third quarter," said Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.
Archer noted an "overall pick up in confidence ... including Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands" as France slowed, "which adds to concerns over the country's underperformance."
Capital Economics said the November gain "is a comforting sign given the recent falls in other indicators ... but we still expect the recovery to remain weak. "
Overall, the rise "is something of a relief given the recent run of more downbeat news from the region," it said.