Let’s be positive: maybe the nadir is behind us

In January GKI’s economic sentiment index has been increasing for three months, even if the growth was very little. With the exception of building and construction, every sector became more optimistic to a certain extent in January. In services the confidence index basically stagnated. Willingness to employ decreased a little in the industry and services, but it increased a bit in retail and the building sector. Still there are more firms that plan to lay off workers than those who want to recruit new ones.

People became more afraid of losing their job. January brought a slowdown in the price increase plans of companies – it was only in retail that the majority of firms were planning this. The inflation expectations of consumers turned a little more optimistic. After the substantial worsening in the May-October period, GKI’s consumer confidence index hardly changed in the last quarter, basically stagnating in January. //