- Annual growth in the value and volume of retail sales had increased slightly over the past three months.
- Consumer services turnover growth had also edged higher.
- The recovery in housing market activity had continued.
- Investment intentions had continued to point to moderate growth in capital expenditure in the year ahead.
- Turnover in business services had edged a little higher.
- Manufacturing output for the domestic market had continued to grow steadily. Manufactured exports growth had increased.
- Construction output growth had risen further.
- Credit availability had continued to increase gradually and demand had edged higher.
- Employment intentions over the next six months pointed to modest headcount growth. Recruitment difficulties had edged higher, and were marginally above normal.
- Capacity utilisation had remained close to normal.
- Labour costs per employee had continued to grow moderately.
- Inflation in materials costs and imported finished goods prices had fallen further.
- Output price inflation had edged lower for manufacturing companies, but had risen slightly for business services firms. Profitability had continued to improve overall.
- Consumer price inflation had slowed further, particularly for goods.
Published on
19 March 2014
Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - March 2014