Finnish CCI at Record High

Finland’s consumers are more optimistic today than when Nokia Oyj dominated the mobile phone world, Bloomberg reported. Consumer sentiment rose to 24.1 in May, the highest reading since records began in 1995, Statistics Finland said in a statement Monday. Business confidence improved to plus 8, the highest in six years, the Confederation of Finnish Industries in Helsinki said in a separate statement. “A strong growth period is underway,” Hypo Chief Economist Juhana Brotherus said by phone. “The positive news coverage on the Finnish economy has lasted for a while and that has strengthened confidence in the economy.” Years of stagnation, in which Finland came to be known as “the new sick man of Europe,” have given way to a period of economic expansion, with many economists raising their forecasts for the year. The recovery is also becoming more broad-based, as exports join consumer spending as drivers of growth.