Business confidence showed little change in February

Overall, business confidence remained more or less unchanged. There is a slight variation between sectors.

Confidence in manufacturing continued to rise slightly

In manufacturing, the indicator reading measuring confidence strengthened to -6 points in February. In the previous month, confidence was at -7. Confidence is still below the long-term average (0 points).

Production is expected to grow moderately in the coming months. The order backlog is still below normal. Inventories of finished goods fell slightly below normal. The capacity is fully used by 63 per cent of the respondents, which is slightly more than in January.

In Finland, industrial confidence had risen to the average level of the EU countries in January.

Confidence indicator for construction fell in February

Confidence in construction recovered in January from the decline in the previous month. The latest balance figure was -23 points, while the previous month’s figure was -35. The long-term average for the CCI is -8.

The order backlog for construction is still at a very low level. The labour force is forecast to continue to decline in the coming months.

According to the comparison figures measured in January, confidence in construction in Finland was the third weakest among the EU countries.

Confidence indicator for services rose slightly in February

There were no major changes in confidence in services in February. The CCI strengthened slightly to +3 points, while the previous month’s figure was +2. The long-term average for the service sector indicator is +11.

The general economic development is described as still modest. However, sales have continued to grow slowly, and somewhat faster growth figures are forecast for the coming months.

In Finland, trust in services was clearly weaker in January than in the EU countries on average.

Retail confidence in a slight decline

Confidence in the retail trade weakened slightly in February. The CCI fell to -4 points from -3 in January. The long-term average is -2.

The decline in the volume of retail trade sales slowed down. Cautious sales growth is forecast for the next few months. However, inventories grew slightly higher than average.

In January, confidence in the Finnish retail trade was somewhat weaker than the EU average.