The Eurozone economy probably reached its peak velocity in Q2, when GDP rose 0.6% q/q. The figures available for Q3 provide something of a diverging picture between soft and hard data. The composite PMI - which has been the best predictor for quarterly GDP growth - averaged 56.0 in Q3, only slightly below the 56.6 seen in Q2. And the EC's Economic Sentiment Indicator was actually stronger in Q3 after reaching a new multi-year high in September. But some of the hard data suggest that growth may be softer than indicated by the strong surveys. In particular, retail sales have been surprisingly weak despite high consumer confidence and strong employment growth, although we suspect weatherrelated factors have been at play.
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