Eurozone, EU economic sentiment stable in May

The latest survey released on Thursday by the European Commission showed that the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) remained unchanged in both the euro area, at 103.8 points, and the European Union (EU) at 106.4 points, in May.

The stabilization of the 19-member euro area sentiment resulted from increased confidence in the services, retail trade, and construction sectors, but which were nonetheless offset by decreased consumer confidence for a second month in a row.

Confidence in industry edged up only marginally compared to the last month. Among the largest euro area economies, The Netherlands, France and Germany saw economic sentiment improve, whereas sentiment declined slightly in Italy and remained unchanged in Spain.

The marginal improvement in industry confidence was due to managers' more optimistic production expectations, which slightly outweighed their negative assessment of stocks of finished products. Views on the current level of overall order books remained broadly stable.

Concerning the two largest economies outside the euro area in the 28-member EU, sentiment worsened in Poland while remaining widely stable in Britain.

Services and retail trade confidence improved and consumer confidence decreased in line with the euro area. EU industry confidence edged up slightly more markedly than in the euro area and confidence in construction decreased. Finally, confidence in financial services fell, similar to in the euro area. Endit