German Consumer Confidence Near Six Year High

A survey has found that low unemployment and solid wage increases have helped push German consumer confidence to a nearly six-year high.

The GfK research institute said Wednesday that its forward-looking consumer climate index rose to 6.8 points for July from 6.5 in June. That’s the highest level since a reading of 7.3 in September 2007.

Germany’s unemployment rate was 6.8 percent in May, a contrast with rates above 20 percent in the European countries worst-hit by the debt crisis. Industrial workers and others in the country, which has Europe’s biggest economy, have secured wage raises well above the inflation rate this year.

Earlier this week, a closely watched survey showed a slight increase in business confidence, underlining expectations of stronger economic growth in Germany.

via Mainichi

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza