Economic sentiment indicator falls

THE INDICATOR of economic sentiment (ESI) in Slovakia worsened in February after several months of improvement, dropping to 89.8 points, according to data published by the Statistics Office.

Behind the 0.4-point month-on-month fall lay pessimistic evaluations by businesses operating in the industrial, construction and service sectors, the SITA newswire reported.

The economic sentiment index in Slovak industry dropped six points to minus 1.3 points in February, 4.3 points below its long-term average, while the economic sentiment index in construction fell by seven points to 48.5 points, influenced by increased pessimism about current demand and future employment.

The index in the service sector sank 2.7 points to 19.3 points, SITA wrote.

5. Mar 2012 at 0:00  | Compiled by Spectator staff