Eurozone consumer confidence index jumped much more than expected in January, a flash estimate from the European Commission showed Wednesday, RTE reported. This further underlined the momentum in the economy that is growing at its fastest in a decade. The commission said CCI in the eurozone in January rose to 1.3 points from 0.5 points in December, well above market consensus of an increase to 0.6. This is the highest level of the indicator since August 2000. In the wider European Union, confidence jumped 1.0 point to 0.4 points, the commission said. This was the highest level since January 2001. Uncertainty about possible eurozone reforms, Italian elections and the success of the German coalition negotiations were clearly taking a backseat to improved economic factors, the analysts noted. Unemployment in the eurozone is at nine-year lows and while unemployment expectations have become slightly less favorable over the last months of 2017, businesses were signaling they expected to hire. The highest level of the index, which dates back to 1985, was the 2.1 points hit in May 2000.
