Managers increasingly upbeat

The managers in industry, constructions, retail and services sector expect business to pick up in the next three months, a survey by the National Statistics Institute (INS) reveals. The survey shows the output growth trend across the processing industry will maintain, which is verified by estimations of product inventories that are close to last quarter’s level. The number of employees will keep constant, even though a slight decline can be seen for the companies employing over 500 people, however compensated for by the slight growths in the other types of enterprises. Once the cold season is over, the managers of construction companies expect sustained increase in activity, along with a significant increase in the number of employees. The survey shows the upward trend will also maintain in retail and services, a trend induced by both the projected sales level and by the increase the actual volume of orders placed with suppliers. Managers in the services sector anticipate demand to go up, as well, but no significant moves in terms of numbers of employees. The results were derived from polls conducted on representative samples across the processing industry (2,550 companies), constructions sector (700 companies) and retail (950 companies). ZF