Optimism in Eurozone Beats Expectations in March

Data on Tuesday, March 30, showed that Eurozone economic sentiment rose much more than expected in March, surpassing the long-term average for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe 12 months ago, while Germany led the improvement.

A monthly survey from the European Commission revealed that economic sentiment in the 19 Eurozone countries jumped to 101 points this month from 93.4 in February, beating economists’ expectations of a rise to 96 points.

Among the EU’s largest economies, the Commission said, Germany had the largest improvement in monthly sentiment ever, reaching +7.9 to 103.7.

Sentiment in the manufacturing sector improved to 2.0 from -3.1, and in the services sector, the largest in the euro zone economy, to -9.3 from -17.0.

Consumer sentiment increased to -10.8 from -14.8, and in the retail sector to -12.2 from -19.1.