ifo Business Climate for Eastern Germany Unchanged
The ifo Business Climate for Eastern Germany remained unchanged in the frosty month of January, holding steady at 101.9 points. The survey participants were noticeably more satisfied with their current business, but their expectations for the coming six months weakened noticeably.
Business confidence in eastern German manufacturing improved slightly, primarily due to the significant rise in business expectations. Enterprises’ assessments of the business situation declined somewhat. Capacity utilisation rose by 1.0 percentage points to 84 percent.
In the eastern German service sector, business confidence improved significantly, mainly as a result of the ongoing, favourable business situation of the survey participants. Their expectations for the coming six months worsened somewhat.
In distribution in eastern Germany, confidence weakened once again. The surveyed retailers were noticeably more pessimistic about the coming six months, but their assessments of the current situation improved slightly.
The mood in the eastern German construction cooled considerably. The surveyed contractors gave strong downward corrections of both their assessments of the current situation and their business expectations.
