Italian consumer confidence index rose to the highest in almost two years, as campaigning heats up for elections early next year. Household sentiment increased to 116.6 in December from a revised 114.4 the month before, statistics agency Istat said Friday in Rome, Reuters reported. The median in a survey of 13 analysts called for this month’s household gauge to be 114.6. Manufacturing confidence was little changed this month, dipping to 110.5 from 110.7 in November. The median in a survey of 15 analysts called for this month’s gauge to be 111.0. Industrial output in the euro region’s third-biggest economy expanded in October, signaling that the recovery is gaining strength, Istat said earlier this month. The data bolstered executives’ views that growth will maintain its pace in 2018, as highlighted in a Dec. 13 report released by Italy’s main business lobby Confindustria. The country’s unemployment rate was unchanged in October at 11.1% with youth joblessness slightly declining to 34.7% from 35.4% in the previous month.
