Figures from the European Commission today showed that euro zone business leaders and consumers grew more optimistic about economic prospects in December.
The commission said its euro zone economic sentiment indicator rose to 100.5 points from 99.9 in November. The rise continued a general trend observed over the summer, apart from the slump in November.
The industrial confidence component of the indicator improved to -5 from -7 points, while consumer confidence was unchanged at -13.
But the commission said the improvement in the economic sentiment indicator disguised some real variations among the countries. 'Half of all member states recorded a loss in confidence, while the other half improved or stayed the same,' it said in a statement.
The commission's separate euro zone business climate indicator also rose, more than doubling to 0.35 in December from 0.14 points in November.
Separate figures from the Eurostat agency showed that retail sales in the euro zone grew at an annual rate of 0.3% in November last year, but slipped by 0.1% compared with October.
The figures were poorer than the forecasts of economists, who had predicted a 0.6% rise over the year and a monthly boost of 0.4%,
Eurostat said sales in the food, drinks and tobacco sector fell 0.4% in the month, while the non-food sector posted an increase of 0.2%.
Economists have been looking for signs that consumer activity is picking up and increasingly contributing to domestic demand as an economic recovery takes root.
