Economic Sentiment in Austria and the EU Brightened Further in August

OrganizationsInternational Organizations ♦ Published: August 31, 2020; 12:50 ♦ (Vindobona)

Businesses and the population of the EU still have below-average economic sentiment although the expectations improved over the last month. The sharp decline due to Covid-19 is made up by about 60 % already.

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs published the latest economic indicators. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / EmDee / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI), which is published by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, rose by 5.3 to 87.7 points in the euro zone and by 5.0 to 86.9 points in the EU. In Austria there was an increase from 4.7 to 87 points.

The increase in Austria is due in part to an improved mood in the service sector.

The indicator, which measures the expectations of the whole industry, namely services, consumers, construction and the retail sector, fell sharply in March and April as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. …