Companies across the eurozone are expressing more confidence, despite the realities on the ground.
It has been three and a half years since the level of belief that business activity would rise has been so high, according to the closely-watch Markit survey.
The renewed confidence is believed to have resulted from the decision of the European Central Bank to pump €1.1 trillion into the region’s economy in a long-delayed quantitative easing programme.
It appears that the stimulus has helped businesses overcome qualms about a Greek debt crisis, even as Germany and Greece slug it out over restructuring that debt.
Confidence has not been so high since May 2011, when people presumably believed that after 4 years of recession things could only get better.
But Markit warned that growth in the euro area was “lop-sided” as it is the services sector which is fuelling much of it while the manufacturing sector remains weak, especially in the lead economies of Germany and France.
On the bright side, there was evidence that jobs were being created and at the fastest rate since August 2011.
