GKI’s economic sentiment index hits nadir in February

In February the GKI economic sentiment index stayed at the January level, so it was at its lowest point in the last 40 months. Business expectations worsened a little, while consumer expectations got better about just as much. After the January stagnation, the retail confidence index fell. The confidence index in services also dropped, due to the worsening in turnover forecasts.

February brought a little strengthening in the willingness to employ, but it was still more moderate than in the preceding months. It was only in the industry sector that businesses’ intention to increase prices strengthened, it weakened in all other sectors. GKI’s consumer confidence index improved by less than the margin of error (the index was down in January). Consumers had a better opinion of their own financial perspectives than in January, but at the same time, they turned more pessimistic about their likeliness to save money. //