The Index of Economic Sentiment (IES) continues to drop, shrinking by 2.4 points on a monthly basis in November to 83.7 points, the lowest figure since December 2009, the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) announced on Wednesday, November 28.
There were falls in all categories except consumer confidence, the TASR newswire reported, citing the ŠÚ data. Meanwhile, the index fell by 5.3 points year-on-year, lagging behind the long-term average by 13.9 points. In a breakdown of the figures, the indicator of confidence in industry went down by 8.4 points month-on-month to minus 15.7 points, its lowest level since May 2009.
Confidence in the construction industry continued to shrink, falling by 2 points month-on-month to its lowest value since June 2000 - minus 56.5 points. Weakened demand and deteriorating future prospects vis-a-vis employment were reported to be behind the development.
Meanwhile, confidence in retail stood at 6 points, thereby dropping 1 point on a monthly basis. This was largely due to pessimistic evaluations of the business environment. Confidence in the services sector decreased by 0.3 percentage points on a monthly basis to 10.7 points. Conversely, consumer confidence in Slovakia rose by 4.9 points month-on-month to minus 33.1 points.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
