- Consumer spending growth was steady, at or slightly above historical average rates. But many retailers remained cautious about prospects for the rest of the year.
- The housing market recovery continued and optimism of house builders improved.
- Growth of exports and imports rose further.
- Investment intentions increased. That partly reflected manufacturers’ need to invest in energy-saving equipment to improve cost competitiveness.
- Manufacturing production continued to pick up gradually, with a slight strengthening in domestic as well as overseas markets.
- Construction output growth was steady.
- Professional and financial services activity remained buoyant but output growth in other business services such as advertising weakened a little.
- Employment intentions remained slightly positive while slack in the labour market may have increased fractionally.
- Capacity pressures rose slightly in both manufacturing and services.
- There were few signs of any general increase in pay pressure.
- Input price inflation remained high, reflecting higher prices of energy, some metals and imported goods.
- Manufacturing output price inflation also stayed high and there was further pass-through to consumer goods prices.
Agents' summary of business conditions - August 2006