Euro zone consumers more confident than have been for 16 years

Reuters
Shoppers walk in a Karstadt hot deal department store in Frankfurt/Oder October 24, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone consumer confidence jumped much more than expected to a 16-year high in June, a flash estimate showed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted indicator rose to -1.3 points from -3.3 points in May, the highest reading since April 2001, when it was at -0.9.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise to only -3.0.

In the wider European Union of 28 countries, the index rose 1.1 points to -2.2 compared to May.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)