Euro-Area Economic Confidence Surges to Highest in 17 Years
- Sentiment improved in industry, retail, construction, services
- Draghi says bloc doing quite well but prudence still warranted
A man counts euro notes in this arranged photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The euro weakened to a decade low against the yen before Italy auctions as much as 8.5 billion euros ($11 billion) of debt. European shares and U.S. equity-index futures climbed.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergEuro-area economic confidence surged to its highest in almost 17 years, reflecting an improved outlook for a region that not long ago was blighted by record joblessness and a double-dip recession.
The index of industry and consumer sentiment rose to 114 in October from a revised 113.1 the previous month, the European Commission in Brussels said on Monday. That’s the gauge’s fifth consecutive monthly increase and the strongest reading since January 2001. It compares with a median estimate of 113.3 in a Bloomberg survey.