Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - January 2007

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 January 2007

Consumer spending growth picked up, with many retailers seeing strong growth over the Christmas period.
Activity in the housing market was relatively robust.
Export growth remained strong, with buoyant demand from several parts of the world.
Investment intentions rose again, with service companies looking to expand capacity.
Domestic manufacturing output improved.
Construction output growth was robust.
Professional and financial services activity grew strongly, and other business services activity accelerated.
Employment intentions were broadly unchanged; skill shortages were most pronounced in professional services.
Capacity pressures were little changed.
So far, concerns about intensified pay pressure have had only a limited impact on companies’ pay and settlements.
Input price inflation fell slightly; most of the impact from past higher energy prices had now been felt.
Consumer price inflation edged higher.