BERLIN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Buoyed up by rising business and investor confidence and a calming of the eurozone crisis, German consumer confidence will rise for a second month in March, market research group GfK said on Wednesday.
GfK's survey based on 2,000 consumer interviews showed that consumer sentiment indicator rose to 5.9 going in March from 5.8 in February, as they assume that the economy in Germany is improving gradually into the coming months.
"At present, the European financial crisis is barely a topic in the media. Players on the financial markets are also acting calmly," GfK said in a statement, explaining the reason that Germans are taking a more relaxed view of the future.
Consumers expect a moderate recovery of the German economy, as the German central bank said this month it expected the economy to return to growth in the first quarter. Meanwhile, business and investor confidence both rose this month.
"It currently seems that the turning point in economic prospects has been reached," GfK said, adding that increasing optimism is also cemented by the stable state of the labor market.
"Although the unemployment rate rose slightly in the winter months, according to the Federal Employment Agency, it's still entirely due to seasonal effects," the firm said.
German employment is at its highest level since reunification more than 20 years ago, the Statistics Office said earlier this month, with some 41.9 million people employed in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Besides rising consumer confidence, companies also expect a strong recovery in the German economy. The Ifo Business Climate Index for industry and trade rose in February by more than three points. This is the strongest increase since July 2010.
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