Huge jump in UK confidence boosts European Union numbers
European Union confidence is up – and we have the non-Euro area UK to thank. While the EU rise in confidence was in-line with expectations, the UK saw a terrific jump in July.
On a country basis, the main reason for the sharper plus was markedly improving confidence in the largest non-euro area EU economy, the UK (+6.9).
And the UK sees the highest confidence of all but two countries – Malta and Croatia.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist, IHS Global Insight:
Overall Eurozone economic sentiment is still at a relatively low level compared to long-term norms, which suggests that businesses will remain cautious in their employment and investment plans in the near term at least.