Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - March 2014

Published on 19 March 2014

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.