Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - January 2014

• Annual growth in the value of retail sales had eased, but consumer services turnover growth had edged higher.
• Housing market activity had continued to strengthen.
• Investment intentions in both manufacturing and services had continued to point to modest growth in capital spending over the next twelve months.
• Annual growth in business services turnover had edged higher.
• Manufacturing output growth for the domestic market had risen further. Moderate growth in the value of manufactured exports had continued, though the pace of growth had eased very slightly.
• Annual growth in construction output had increased further, with signs that growth was spreading beyond house building.
• Credit availability had continued to improve gradually, including for small and medium-sized enterprises, with evidence of increasing competition to lend.
• There were widespread reports of growth in employment, albeit often incremental. Recruitment difficulties had edged higher and were now close to normal levels.
• Spare capacity had continued to be eroded gradually as output rose.
• The annual rate of growth in labour costs per employee had edged higher, though remained moderate.
• Inflation in materials costs had remained subdued and imported finished goods price inflation had edged lower.
• Output price inflation had remained muted, but profitability had edged higher alongside rising business volumes.
• Inflation in consumer prices had fallen back over recent months, largely reflecting a slowing rate of increase in the price of retail goods.

Agents' summary of business conditions - January 2014 

• Agents' scores (xlsx)
• Definitions for the Agents’ scores
• Response to consultation on changes to Agents' scores