The European
Commission (EC) said on Tuesday its flash estimate revealed the consumer
confidence indicator for the euro area climbed 1.4 percentage points to -15.2
in May from an upwardly revised -16.6 (from -16.7) in the previous month. This was
the first gain in the index in three months.
Economists
had forecast the index to rise to
-16.0 early this month.
Considering the
European Union (EU) as a whole, the consumer sentiment indicator also jumped 1.4 percentage points to -14.5
in May.
Despite this month’s rebound, both indicators remained markedly below their long-term
averages.