Miscellaneous data from Europe

The eurozone economy grew 0.6% in the last quarter of last year, a slight slowdown compared with a 0.7% quarter-on-quarter growth, Eurostat estimates.
The GDP growth of countries using the euro on an annual basis was 2.7%, 2.8% quarter-on-quarter.
Over the past year, euro area GDP has risen by 2.5%. For the entire 2017, euro area GDP grew by 2.5%, representing the best economic expansion for over a decade.
On an annual basis, the economy of the old continent expanded in the fourth quarter of 2017 by 2.6%, after an expansion of 2.8% in the third quarter, Eurostat data show.
A separate report made it clear that the index measuring economic confidence in the euro area declined in the first month of the new year to 114.7 points, down from 115.3 in December. This is the highest level of the index since October 2000.
At the same time, however, there is a surprising deterioration in business confidence in services (down 16.7 from 18.0 points) and in retail trade (down 5.0 to 6.0 points).
The final consumer confidence index in the euro area rose by 0.8 points to 1.3 points in January, reaching the highest level since the beginning of 2001.

The euro area economy remains stable

The economy of the eurozone has kept its strong performance since the beginning of the year, with good performance stimulating companies to recruit new staff at the fastest pace in ten years.
The PMI index for manufacturing and services fell to 55.9 in October, compared to 56.7 in September, according to IHS Markit.
And although the indicator has fallen to the lowest level in two months, the rate of new job in the industrial sector has risen to the highest level since 1997.
Good data comes true shortly before the ECB's meeting this week, which is expected to cut its record-breaking stimulus to the economy.
Currently, the ECB buys back assets worth 60 billion euros, which are expected to be reduced by between 20 and 30 billion dollars from the beginning of next year.
And while inflation is still far below the expectations of the central bank, the first steps towards reducing incentives are expected to be released shortly.