German Consumer Confidence Rises

German consumer confidence rose to the highest in eleven months after new tax cuts took effect and shoppers' appetite for big purchases grew, the GfK market research company said, according to Bloomberg news service. The survey aims to forecast household spending one month in advance. It rose to 4.8 points this month from a revised 4.2 a month ago, GfK officials said. An index of people's willingness to buy increased to the highest level since the introduction of the euro in 2002. German business confidence meanwhile fell for the first month in three after the number of people out of work increased by 227,000 in January, according to the Munich-based Ifo institute.