The business climate in western Germany improved sharply in both December and January, according to data published by the Ifo economics research institute today.
Ifo's business climate index for western Germany jumped to 85.8 in December from 84.9 in November and then rose again to 86.3 in January, Ifo said in a statement.
The index has now risen for three months in a row, fulfilling the office's definition of a turnaround in the euro zone's biggest economy.
The Ifo index measures companies' assessment of their current business, as well as expectations for the next six months, and is based on a survey of more than 7,000 companies.
Ifo published data for both December and January at the same time because it was bringing the business climate index, the nearest thing Germany has to an industrial confidence barometer, more into line with comparable EU indices. Until now the monthly Ifo index has been based on responses from the preceding month. That meant, for example, that the November reading actually measured business confidence in October.
But starting in January, the index is based on company responses from the current month, in line with other EU indicators.
The east German current assessment index fell to 112.6 in December from 115.0 in November but then jumped to 117.0 in January. By contrast, the expectations index rose to 82.0 in December from 80.5 in November, but then fell to 80.9 in January.
AFP