Economic Assessments Begin to Stabilise

Despite improvements, sceptical economic assessments continued to prevail in April. Sentiment remained particularly subdued in the manufacturing sector. Accordingly, capacity utilisation rose slightly in all sectors except manufacturing. Uncertainty decreased in all sectors in a quarter-on-quarter comparison. As in the previous quarter, "insufficient demand" was the most frequently cited obstacle to business activity, ahead of "shortage of labour force". Sales price expectations have fallen in recent months and are now only above average in the retail trade sector.