BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A monthly survey of consumer sentiment published by the market research institute GfK on Thursday revealed that the lasting strength of German economic growth and the country's favorable labor market are reflected in increased consumer confidence.
Despite geo-political uncertainty, expectations of economic growth in June were at their highest level in three years. The GfK's indicator for the category rose by 6.5 points to 41.3.
Consumers demonstrated confidence that potential headwinds, such as the protectionist stance of the U.S. Trump administration and the United Kingdom's decision to "Brexit", would not derail German growth otherwise supported by a weak Euro, low oil prices and the European Central Bank's expansionist stance.
Meanwhile optimism about incomes surged to a post-unification record. The 60.2 points reached in the indicator for the survey category were the highest measured by the GfK since 1991.
The combination of these circumstances led to a moderate increase in the spending intentions of those polled, said the survey.
The Nuremberg, Bavaria based research institute expects the upward trend to continue into July, with GfK's index for consumer sentiment rising to 10.6 points from 10.4 in June.
Rolf Buerkl, a researcher at GfK, explained that the figures were predominantly supported by a stable labor market with excellent employment prospects.
Respondents had little fear of losing their jobs which gave them more confidence in their financial planning. Consumers were consequently prepared to make bigger and more risky purchases, Buerkl said.
The data for the analysis was collected in a representative monthly survey of around 2,000 individuals.
The Federal Employment Agency reported that 2.5 million people were registered as unemployed in Germany in May 2017, the lowest number in 26 years.
The Ifo Institute for Economic Research recently raised its forecast for German GDP growth from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent this year. Enditem
