European Consumers Slowly Shed Pessimism as Public Life Resumes

(Bloomberg) -- Euro-area consumer confidence is slowly rebounding from a seven-year low, with people allowed to move more freely now that the most severe lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

A gauge measuring sentiment across the 19-nation region increased to -14.7 in June from -18.8 in May. The European Commission’s reading remains well below its long-term average.

Measures of activity are also slowly picking up, with surveys of purchasing managers due Tuesday expected to show an improvement.

But while sentiment is clawing back the ground lost during the peak of the lockdowns, unemployment has spiraled despite governments’ best efforts to keep people on payrolls. That’s weighing on private spending urgently needed to kickstart the economy after months of closures.

The European Central Bank predicts euro-area output will shrink nearly 9% this year -- despite trillions of euros of monetary and fiscal stimulus.

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