“Consumer confidence improved slightly from -8.3 to -7.9 in January. Favourable conditions for consumers slightly outweigh concerns about the global economy at the beginning of the year,” note ING analysts.
Key quotes
“A small uptick in confidence is hardly anything to cheer about after an entire year of concerns for Eurozone consumers. If anything, it may provide some evidence that real income improvements can impact confidence positively in uncertain times.”
“With lower inflation, that bodes well for consumption in the first months of the year. A modest recovery of the stock market in January may have also helped the small increase in confidence.”
“Concerns remain abound for the consumer though. Worries about Brexit, the ‘yellow vest’ protests, a possible technical recession in Italy and the ongoing trade war have hit consumer expectations for the economic situation and added to concerns about personal unemployment in the months ahead.”
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