Eurozone economic confidence improved in May economy Separate data released on Thursday showed India is recovering from recession, with the unemployment rate falling slightly in April.
A European Commission survey showed economic confidence rose less than expected to 96.0 in May from 95.6 in the previous month. The index had been expected to improve more sharply to 96.2.
The increase in the business confidence index reflected improvements in industry, services and consumer confidence, but was somewhat tempered by a decline in construction confidence.
The industrial sentiment index rose to -9.9 in May from -10.4 in April, but the score was lower than expected at -9.4.
Similarly, the services confidence index improved to 6.5 as expected from 6.1 in the previous month.
Consumer confidence rose from -14.7 to -14.3, in line with preliminary estimates, with the latest reading the highest since February 2022.
Retailer confidence remained steady in May, with the index hovering at -6.8. In contrast, construction business confidence fell slightly from -5.9 to -6.0.
The employment expectations index continued to decline slightly in May, falling to 101.3, but still above the long-term average.
Lily Millard, an economist at Capital Economics, said the survey results reflected weak growth in the euro zone, as price pressures remained strong but continued to ease, she said.
Official data released by Eurostat showed the unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.4% in April but is expected to remain unchanged at 6.5%.
The number of unemployed people is down by 100,000 since March. At the same time, the number of unemployed people is down by 101,000 from the same period last year.
The youth unemployment rate fell to 14.1% from 14.3% a month ago.
Capital Economics' Millard said the unemployment rate is expected to remain near current levels for the rest of the year.
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Renju Jaya
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