Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - November 2011

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 22 November 2011

The annual growth rate of nominal spending on consumer goods and services remained very weak.
The level of activity in the housing market remained subdued, with less of a pickup than usual after the summer.
Investment intentions pointed to a further modest increase in spending on capital over the coming year.
Exports of goods continued to grow steadily, although there had been some slowing in orders reflecting both softer world demand and rising uncertainty.
Manufacturing output was still growing compared with a year earlier, but the pace of growth had been declining for some months.
The growth rate of business services turnover had also fallen over the past few months, due to weakness in professional and financial services.
There had been a slight contraction in construction output, compared with a year earlier, and activity was expected to fall further.
Firms in a strong financial position could access credit on competitive terms, but small businesses often reported that conditions remained tight, and in some cases had become tighter.
Employment intentions had softened recently, with increasing uncertainty leading to greater caution in some cases.
The level of capacity utilisation was around normal in manufacturing, but had fallen a little over the past few months. There remained a degree of slack in services.
Total labour cost growth remained modest, and slowing activity had lessened upward pressures on pay.
Raw materials costs inflation continued to fall back.
Import price inflation had levelled off, albeit at a high rate, following the easing in materials cost inflation.
Manufacturing output price inflation continued to rise steadily, while inflation in business services was more restrained.
Annual inflation for consumer goods and services remained elevated.