BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- German consumer sentiment showed a "mixed picture" with little change in February, according to the monthly consumer climate study published by market research institute GfK on Thursday.
Based on around 2,000 interviews conducted on behalf of the European Commission, GfK forecasted that its forward-looking index showed a slight decrease from 9.9 points in February to 9.8 points for March.
"The consumer climate has been unable to continue the previous month's positive trend," said Rolf Buerkl, consumer expert at GfK.
Employment in Germany remained largely stable, but the strong positive dynamics which had been observed in recent years were over, GfK noted. Although income expectations in Germany had not benefitted from the improved economic outlook in February, the income indicator "remains at a high level."
Despite phases of global economic weakness, GfK believes that signals from the German labor market would "remain encouraging".
"A largely stable employment situation means that employees will enjoy an increase in earnings" this year as well, albeit not quite as high as in previous years. Overall, "economic expectations appear to be making a slow recovery," GfK noted.
Germans' propensity to buy remained at a "very high level" in February, supported by the low interest rate policy of the European Central Bank which made saving an unattractive option, according to GfK.
German consumer confidence had so far remained unaffected by weaker economic conditions and global developments, GfK noted, confirming its forecast from the previous month that private consumption in Germany would increase in real terms by about one percent in 2020.
