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Euro area developments
Improved euro-area sentiment resulted from marked increases in confidence in the industry and construction sectors. Confidence among consumers and in the services sector remained (virtually) unchanged, while retailers were somewhat less confident. Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the ESI rose strongly in Germany (+2.0) and France (+1.5), while it remained broadly stable in the Netherlands (-0.3) and Italy (-0.1) and decreased in Spain (-1.0).
EU developments
The stronger increase of the headline indicator for the EU (+1.9) was mainly due to the strong improvement of sentiment in the UK (+3.3), which was only partly offset by the deterioration of the ESI in Poland (−1.1). In line with the euro area, confidence in industry and construction rose markedly, while consumer confidence remained stable. By contrast, confidence in services increased significantly and declined more strongly in retail trade. As regards financial services confidence, the rise in the EU aggregate was in line with euro-area developments. Managers' employment expectations were improving in line with those for the euro area for industry and construction. By contrast, EU employment expectations also increased in services and worsened strongly in retail trade. Selling price expectations in the EU firmed in services, retail trade and, to a lesser extent, in construction, in line with higher price expectations among EU consumers, while remaining broadly stable in industry.