Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - July 2006

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 18 July 2006

Consumer spending growth picked up, although the pattern of sales was affected by the World Cup.
The housing market recovery continued, but contacts were cautious about the near-term outlook.
Export sales accelerated again; import growth also rose.
Manufacturing investment intentions strengthened: contacts now expected broadly unchanged investment spending over the next twelve months.
Manufacturing production for domestic markets rose, but less quickly than exports.
Construction output growth was steady.
Professional and financial services activity continued to grow strongly.
Employment intentions picked up, but recruitment difficulties remained low.
Capacity utilisation increased a little in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
There was no evidence of widespread pay pressure.
Input price inflation remained high, reflecting energy prices.
Manufacturing output price inflation also stayed high; there was some further pass-through of energy costs to consumer prices.