Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - June 2014

• Annual growth in retail sales values had picked up sharply following a recent weakening. Growth in consumer services turnover had been stable.
• Activity in the housing market had eased. There were fewer mortgage completions and approvals, reflecting a shortage of supply of properties on the market and the impact of the implementation of the Mortgage Market Review.
• Investment intentions had moderated, with some firms scaling back capital expenditure from above normal levels. But commercial property investment had picked up.
• Growth in business services turnover had eased slightly.
• Manufacturing output for the domestic market had continued to grow at a steady pace. The appreciation of sterling had tended to affect export margins rather than volumes.
• Construction output had continued to grow strongly, and growth was widening out beyond house building.
• Corporate credit conditions had continued to improve, helped by increased competition between lenders.
• Employment intentions had been little changed and still pointed to modest growth in the next six months.
• Recruitment difficulties had remained slightly above normal.
• Capacity utilisation was marginally above normal overall, although significant spare capacity remained in some parts of the economy.
• Growth in total labour costs per employee had increased slightly, remaining moderate.
• Materials costs had fallen slightly, with the exception of those used in the construction industry. Imported finished goods prices had remained stable.
• Output prices had continued to increase modestly, and margins on domestic sales were expected to improve over the coming year.
• Consumer price inflation had edged lower.

Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - June 2014

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