German consumer confidence grows for 2nd consecutive month

People in Germany are becoming more willing to buy things, as the forward looking GFK index which measures consumer confidence grew to 8.7 for December.

The GfK consumer sentiment indicator, based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, rose to 8.7 going into December from 8.5 in November, the market research group said Thursday. Economists had forecast a score of 8.6.

Positive income expectations largely drove the improvement, as Germany’s Labor Agency said on Thursday that the jobless rate hit a low of 6.6 percent in October.

However, overall economic expectations dropped by 2.7 points to 1.6 points.

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“The German economy is now also beginning to suffer the effects of the various international crises in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine as well as the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and, linked to this, the economic weakness in the eurozone. Consequently, a significant downward correction of the growth forecast for German gross domestic product (GDP) was required in recent weeks,” the Gfk report said Thursday.