The Conference Board research group’s leading economic index (LEI) for the euro-zone rose 1.9% to 95.4 in May from 93.6 in April, suggesting the area’s economy may be bottoming out.
The indicator, which aggregates eight other indexes to measure economic activity, rose substantially for the second month running.
The Conference Board’s senior economist for Europe Jean-Claude Manini noted “With a second sharp rise in a row, the euro area LEI has moved out of recessionary territory” adding “this improvement is reinforced by the recent first-time increases in the German, the French and the Spanish LEIs. The likelihood of reaching a trough in the current business cycle before the end of the year has clearly increased.”
