European View: The Euro Area faces a pandemic resurgence with a stronger than expected labor market—November 2020

Surveys show a further improvement for the manufacturing sector in October, while the services sector suffers from consumers’ cautious attitudes and government restrictions to activity. The latter will impact the economy further in the coming months. As COVID-19 spreads, pressure mounted on the healthcare sector, pushing European governments to announce a new lockdown. This second lockdown, however, has a smaller impact on activity compared to the first: it is less restrictive in terms of closures and regions covered, and it will last fewer weeks.