Economic Expectations Remain Subdued

The index of current business situation assessments declined slightly in February (–0.3 points), but remained in positive territory at 11.1 points. In manufacturing, which is particularly sensitive to economic developments, however, the situation index gained 1.2 points compared with the previous month and, at 3.6 points, rose slightly further into positive territory. In the construction industry, the situation index lost 2.6 points, but remained well above the zero line at 15.2 points. In the service sectors, the index lost 1.1 points compared with the previous month, but with a value of 16.0 points still signals confident economic assessments. In the retail sector, the situation index rose by 0.6 points to 2.8 points and, as in the previous month, was just in positive territory.

The index of business expectations for the economy as a whole lost 1.0 points in February and stood at 0.3 points, close to the zero-line separating negative from positive economic expectations. In the retail trade, the expectations index lost 0.2 points and remained deep in sceptical territory at –18.5 points. In the service sectors, the expectations index lost 1.7 points and stood at 2.0 points. In the construction industry, the expectations index fell by 4.7 points, but remained in the optimistic range at 19.7 points. However, this high figure is partly due to the continued high construction price expectations. Business expectations in the construction industry remained in negative territory. In manufacturing, which was particularly affected by the energy price increases, the expectations index showed a slight recovery (+1.3 points). However, the index was still in the pessimistic range at –4.7 points.