Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - November 2005

We regularly publish a summary of reports compiled by our twelve regional Agents following discussions with at least 700 businesses across the UK every reporting period.

Published on 23 November 2005

Growth in the value of consumer spending remained subdued, with few signs of a pickup in the near term.
A modest recovery continued in housing market activity, but prices were flat.
Export growth remained robust. Imports also continued to rise, despite some weakness in consumer goods.
Investment intentions eased as firms became more cautious.
Domestic manufacturing sales were weak, with export sales faring notably better.
The pace of construction output growth eased, but activity remained high.
Service sector output growth was broadly unchanged; professional and financial service companies reported continued robust growth in demand.
The labour market continued to soften.
Fewer firms were worried about capacity pressures.
Pay pressures remained muted.
Input price inflation was broadly unchanged, although not all companies had yet felt the full impact of past rises in energy prices.
Output price increases were tempered by competition, but consumer price inflation edged a little higher.