- The Agents reported that the annual pace of growth in both retail sales values and consumer services turnover was broadly unchanged.
- The housing market softened further, with sales of both new and existing homes falling back.
- Investment intentions continued to improve, particularly in manufacturing, on the back of rising exports and planned efficiency gains.
- Growth in exports remained rapid, particularly of goods, driven by demand from emerging markets. Demand had also picked up in the euro area and the United States.
- Services turnover growth had softened slightly, reflecting continued downward pressure on fees.
- Manufacturing output was still growing robustly, helped by strong overseas demand.
- The Agents’ score for construction output turned positive, indicating that the level of activity had risen compared to last year. But there were concerns about the outlook.
- Large firms had seen a further improvement in credit conditions but small firms continued to report that conditions remained tight.
- Private sector employment intentions rose a little, driven by the consumer services and manufacturing sectors.
- The degree of spare capacity remained wider than usual, particularly in services.
- Labour costs continued to edge up, reflecting rising productivity. And there was also a degree of compensation for past wage restraint.
- Materials cost inflation remained robust, due to global demand and supply pressures.
- Rising costs had been passed on to some extent in manufacturing output price inflation.
- Contacts continued to expect to pass on the bulk of the rise in VAT, with some already having raised prices.