Surprised by the European Commission's index which measures business and consumer confidence in the euro area and in the EU: in Italy, in September, the figure rose from 105,8 points, from 109,2 in August. This is the highest level since May 2007. The increase involves all sectors: industry +1,2 points, services +7, consumers +3,4, retail trade +0,2, construction +1,8.
As for the Eurozone, the index rose to 105,6 points from 104,1 in August, reaching its highest level since 106,1 in April 2011. Economists' expectations were for an unchanged figure.
In particular, the index relating to confidence in the business world rose to 0,34 points in September from 0,20 (revised figure) the previous month; in this case expectations were for a reading of 0,20. Conversely, consumer confidence fell slightly, to -7,1 from -6,9.
The indicator on inflation expectations for the coming 12 months recovered to 3,2 points, after falling to 3,1 in August from 4,2 in July. However, it remains well below the long-term average of 19,7.
