Economic Climate Continues to Deteriorate Slightly

In April, the index of current assessments for the economy as a whole (excluding seasonal fluctuations) remains 1.9 points below the value of the previous month, but stays at a fairly confident level at a value of 14.2 points. In the construction industry, the index loses 11.1 points, but remains at a very optimistic level with a value of 31.1 points. In the service industries, the index remained virtually unchanged (–0.1 points) and continues to signal a good service economy at a value of 15.8 points. However, the situation index for the economically significant production of tangible goods continues to lose momentum (–1.7 points) and, at a value of 6.8 points, is only in the range of satisfactory economic assessments.

After the declines of the past months, the index of business expectations is gaining some ground again (+1.0 points), reaching a value of 9.9 points. In the construction industry, the expectations index declined (–2.3 points), but the index value of 10.7 points remains confident. In the service sectors, the expectation index rose (+1.8 points). The index score of 15.0 points signals confident economic expectations. The expectation index also rises in the manufacturing sector (+0.9 points), but is still only slightly above the zero line at a value of 1.3 points. Thus, heterogeneous developments across the three sectors continued to emerge in April.

Details on all sectors in the current economic survey can be found here.