Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - May 2014

• Annual growth in retail sales values had been little changed and growth in consumer services turnover had edged higher.
• Housing market transactions had risen strongly on a year earlier, though some contacts reported that the implementation of new rules resulting from the Mortgage Market Review appeared to have been associated with a slowing in mortgage approvals.
• Investment intentions had increased, reflecting growing confidence in the strength of demand and, for some contacts, an improvement in the availability of finance.
• Growth in business services turnover had remained strong, especially for professional and financial services.
• Manufacturing output for the domestic market and for export had continued to grow at a steady pace.
• Construction output had continued to grow strongly, driven by house building.
• Corporate credit conditions had continued to improve.
• Employment intentions had increased further, particularly in business services. Recruitment difficulties had remained slightly above normal.
• Capacity utilisation had remained close to normal, though had risen a little further above that level in manufacturing.
• Growth in total labour costs per employee had edged up further, remaining moderate.
• Materials costs and imported finished goods prices had been little changed on a year earlier.
• Output prices and profitability had continued to increase modestly.
• Consumer price inflation had remained moderate, with services inflation having edged lower. 

Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - May 2014

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