Euro-Area Consumers Help Recovery as Confidence Rises: Economy

Economic sentiment in the euro area rose to a seven-month high and German unemployment dropped, keeping the region on a recovery path as the European Central Bank prepares to unleash its quantitative-easing program.

An index of executive and consumer confidence climbed to 102.1 in February from a revised 101.4, the European Commission said on Thursday, beating the 102 median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. In Germany, the number of people out of work declined a seasonally adjusted 20,000 to 2.81 million, twice as much as predicted.