Europeans Gain Confidence in Economy

The European Commission has reported that business and consumer confidence in the Eurozone rose in February, from 93.4 in January to 94.4. The survey indicates growing confidence that the Eurozone economy is stabilizing.

One analyst told Bloomberg News that the report suggests that the Eurozone is “past the worst.” Combined with any number of other economic reports, the overall view of the global economy is that it is improving with a few stumbles here and there. For example, the US report on durable goods orders due later this morning is expected to show a drop of about 1% in January compared with a rise of 3% in December 2011. Unemployment in Germany, though, is expected to fall in March, and in Japan, new car sales rose 24% last month.

Mixed signals, to be sure, but mostly pointed in the right direction.