March consumer confidence improved
slightly while business confidence fell, Istat national
statistics bureau said Tuesday.
Consumer confidence rose form 114.5 points in February to
115 points in March. Business confidence fell from 103.2 to
100.1 points in the same period, Istat said.
Business confidence rose in manufacturing (from 102 to
102.2), while the biggest drop was in the services sector (from
106.5 to 103.2 points).
The data is based on a survey was conducted in the first
two weeks of March, i.e. before the March 22 Islamist terror
attacks in Brussels that claimed at least 35 lives.
Federconsumatori and Adusbef consumer groups said Istat has
"overestimated" consumer confidence.
"Such data, however cautious, is out of place given the
extremely serious situation families' purchasing power," the two
associations said in a statement.
"One must face reality in order to help the country and the
economic system," Federconsumatori chief Rosario Trefiletti and
Adusbef director Elio Lannutti said in a joint statement.
"Families are still in a state of crisis, afflicted by lack
of jobs while purchasing power is at a historic low," they said.
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