Stats: Entrepreneur Confidence in Economy Improves, Consumer Mood Worsens

Bratislava, 27 November (TASR) - The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose again for the first time in two months in November, but the figure was still lower than a year ago, the Statistics Office reported on Thursday. While entrepreneurs showed optimism, and mainly those engaged in the sector of services, consumers remained sceptical, with concerns mainly about the financial situation of their households becoming worse. The consumer mood was the worst since March 2023. The ESI rose by 4.5 points from October to stand at 96.8 in November. The overall figure was 0.7 points less optimistic than in the same period of last year, and it was 7.9 points below the long-term average. After seasonal adjustments, the confidence indicator in industry increased by 2.3 points to -8 in November, mainly as a result of growth in expected production, especially in the production of coke and refined oil products. The seasonally adjusted confidence indicator in services rose to 8.7 points, with improvements posted in all of its components, mainly under the influence of growth in transport and warehousing. Meanwhile, the confidence indicator in trade grew by 1 point from October to stand at 8.3. The respondents evaluated the current trend in business activities positively, expecting higher demands on suppliers. The confidence indicator in construction increased by 0.5 points to -2.5 in November under the influence of more optimistic evaluations regarding expected employment. The consumer atmosphere in Slovakia worsened to the lowest figure seen in the past 2.5 years (since May 2023) in November. The seasonally adjusted indicator went down by 1.8 points from October to -24.6 and was 4.7 points below the long-term average. Consumers were more pessimistic in all four components of the indicator. They were mainly concerned about the financial situation of their households, not only regarding expected savings, but also the overall financial situation. They also negatively perceived developments in the overall economic situation, as well as in unemployment. ko/df