Eurozone business sentiment creeps up to two-year high

(Sharecast News) - Business confidence across the eurozone was more or less steady in November, though the European Commission's monthly sentiment survey still inched up to its highest level in two and a half years. The EC's Economic Sentiment Indicator, which tracks business attitudes across a variety of sectors, rose just 0.2 points to 97.0 this month.

This was slightly below the 97.1 consensus forecast but the highest mark since April 2023 following three straight monthly increases.

The report found that higher confidence across the services, retail trade and construction industries was almost entirely offset by a deterioration in sentiment in industry.

Meanwhile, among the region's largest economics, the ESI improved in Spain (+2.0), Italy (+1.1) and France (+0.8), fell slightly in Germany and the Netherlands (both -0.3).

Employment expectations also picked up over the month, with the labour market gauge rising 1.1 points due to improved confidence among construction and retail trade managers.

Selling price expectations also picked up across all four major business sectors, in particular in the services industry.

The EC also tracks public sentiment as part of its monthly report, and found that consumer confidence edged 0.1 points lower as slight improvements in the general economic outlook were offset by weakened assessments of household finances.