According to the final report from the European Commission, consumer confidence in the eurozone improved slightly in January, confirming economists' forecasts, while the economic sentiment index rose more than forecasts and recorded a third increase in a row.
The consumer confidence index rose to -20.9 points compared to -22.0 points in December. Meanwhile, the economic sentiment indicator improved to 99.9 from 95.8 in December. Consensus estimates suggested an increase to 97.0. The employment expectations indicator rose to 110.1 from 107.4 in December.
As for the EU countries, the economic sentiment indicator rose to 98.0 from 95.7 last month, and the employment expectations indicator increased to 108.5 from 106.2. The economic sentiment indicator increase was driven by strong improvements in industry, services, retail trade and consumer confidence, while confidence declined in construction.
The data also showed that the indicator of economic uncertainty fell in January to 25.9 from 27.0 in December, driven by decreasing uncertainty among consumers and in all surveyed business sectors, except for retail trade, where the indicator remained broadly unchanged.