Eurozone confidence rises, Japanese industrial output falls

Confidence in the euro area continued to climb in November. Bloomberg reports:

European confidence in the economic outlook improved to the highest in three years in November as Germany’s export-driven growth helped counter concerns that a spreading sovereign-debt crisis will hurt the recovery.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the 16 euro nations rose to 105.3 from 103.8 in October, the European Commission in Brussels said in a statement today. That’s the highest since November 2007. Economists forecast a gain to 105, the median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey shows.

Still, economic growth is expected to weaken next year. Again from Bloomberg:

Europe’s economy may weaken next year as budget cuts to stem a mounting debt crisis hurt consumer demand and faltering global expansion curbs exports, the European Commission said.

Gross-domestic-product growth in the 16-nation euro region may weaken to 1.5 percent in 2011 from 1.7 percent this year, the Brussels-based commission said in a report published today. While Germany may expand 3.7 percent this year, the economies of Ireland, Greece and Spain will continue to shrink.

Meanwhile, Japan's economy is already seeing a significant slowdown. From Reuters:

Japanese factory output fell in October by the most since February 2009, as slowing exports and the diminishing effects of stimulus-driven consumption cloud the outlook for the fragile economic recovery...

Industrial output fell 1.8 percent in October, government data showed on Tuesday, less than a median estimate for a 3.25 percent fall but marking the fifth straight month of declines.

Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect output to rise 1.4 percent in November and 1.5 percent in December, the data showed...

The Nomura/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 47.3 in November from 47.2 in October, staying below the 50 threshold that separates contraction from expansion for a third month in a row...

Separate government data showed the jobless rate rose to 5.1 percent in October from the previous month's 5.0 percent. Household spending fell 0.4 percent in October from a year earlier, partly due to the end of government subsidies for buyers of environmentally friendly automobiles.