KOF Economic Barometer remains at below-average level

The KOF Economic Barometer fell in August by 1.0 points from 92.1 (revised from 92.2 in July) to a level of 91.1. All indicator bundles contributed to this result except those on construction and domestic consumption, which developed slightly positively. By contrast, sentiment has particularly worsened in services (both in the real and financial sectors), followed by export-oriented business and hotels and restaurants.

In the producing sector (manufacturing and construction), in particular the indicators on the employment situation developed negatively in August, followed by the assessment of inventories. Capacity utilisation and the situation of intermediate products, on the other hand, were assessed more positively than in July.

Within the manufacturing sector, which is overall only slightly more pessimistic than in July, the indicators for the electrical and wood industries show noticeable reductions; for all other industrial sectors the movements compared to the previous month are negligible.