No change expected by business

Once each quarter, the Office for Statistics (AS) surveys managers in the industrial and service sectors for their assessments of the current situation and expectations of future economic developments. In the latest survey as at the end of September, 66 percent of respondents regarded the general business situation as satisfactory, as the AS outlined in a publication on the survey. The situation was rated as good by 14 percent, while the remaining 20 percent viewed it as poor. In general, no improvement is expected in the general situation over the current quarter, the analysts at the AS report. The respondents put this down to insufficient demand and the consequences of the pandemic. Companies in the industrial and construction sectors have largely seen an improvement in the general situation over the quarter under review when compared with the previous quarter. On the whole, respondents are not expecting any change over the current quarter. However, a deterioration of business is expected in the service sector for the fourth quarter. Respondents in this sector have already observed falls in demand and profitability in the third quarter. For the latest issue of the economic survey, the AS evaluated responses from 75 companies in the industrial and service sectors.  In terms of employment, the surveyed companies represent 70 percent of the industrial sector and 25 percent of the service sector.