Pessimism among Euro area households increased in March as the consumer sentiment measure unexpectedly sunk to its lowest level in three months, preliminary survey data from the European Commission showed on Friday.
The flash consumer confidence indicator for Eurozone fell to -14.5 from -13.6 in February, while economists were looking for an improvement to -13.0.
The latest reading was the weakest since December. Confidence weakened this month after a strong rise in February and a modest gain in January.
The corresponding index for the EU fell by a percentage point to -13.9 in March, which was the lowest score since February last year.
“…consumer confidence veered further away from its long-term average again,” the commission said.
Results are based on survey data collected from March 1 to 20.
The final results for consumer confidence are set to be released along with the monthly economic sentiment survey data on March 28.
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