Ljubljana, 21 December (STA) - Slovenia's consumer confidence improved in December for the third month running with the sentiment indicator up by two percentage points from the month before to 16 points above the long-term average.
However, the indicator was down by five percentage points year-on-year, equalling the average value of 2017, the Statistics Office reported on Friday.
The annual decline was due to more pessimistic expectations about the state of the national economy and about employment prospects, with the corresponding indicators falling by as much as 13 and 11 percentage points, respectively.
On the up side, expectations for savings improved by three percentage points, while expectations about household finances were level with those in December 2017.
The monthly increase was driven by more optimistic expectations about jobs with the relevant indicator rising by four percentage points, and about the the state of the national economy (+ 3 p.p.).
Expectations about savings were slightly dampened (-1 p.p.), while expectations about household finances remained flat compared with the month before.