Craftsmen work on cast metal for the production of an art work at the Hermann Noack fine art foundry’s production site in Berlin on January 24, 2023. A January Ifo survey showed improved sentiment among German businesses. Craftsmen work on cast metal for the production of an art work at the Hermann Noack fine art foundry’s production site in Berlin on January 24, 2023. A January Ifo survey showed improved sentiment among German businesses. Tobias Schwarz | Afp | Getty Images German business sentiment improved in January, according to a widely watched survey from the Munich-based Ifo Institute — in a prospective sign that Europe’s largest economy could swerve a recession. Ifo’s Business Climate Index rose to 90.2 points from 88.6 points previously on “considerably less pessimistic expectations,” a release said. This still left the index below its 2021 and early 2022 level. Companies reported overall lower satisfaction with their current situation. This was offset by a better sentiment on trade and by signals of present satisfaction and future optimism from manufacturing firms. “The expectation was that there might be a recession in the fourth quarter of ’22 and the first quarter of ’23. Now it looks like the […]