KOF Economic Barometer: Normalisation continues

The KOF Economic Barometer fell by 2.2 points in February from 107.2 (revised from 107.8) to 105.0 points. However, it is still well above its average value of 100. The indicators from the manufacturing sector are primarily responsible for the decline, followed by those from the financial sector. The signals for the Swiss exporters are somewhat more favourable than before. When interpreting this, however, it must be borne in mind that the underlying data was collected before the situation in Ukraine escalated.

In the producing industry (manufacturing and construction), the order backlog in particular is assessed as less positive, followed by production, the business situation and employment.

In the manufacturing sector, amongst the sectors reflected in the barometer, it is chiefly the paper industry that is signalling a decline compared to the previous month, followed by the metal, electrical and the category “other industries”. On the other hand, positive signals are coming from mechanical engineering and somewhat less clearly from the chemical industry.