Manufacturers remain optimistic

Manufacturers are still positive. Producer confidence in manufacturing industry was 7.8 in August. The index is 0.2 points up on July. The index reflecting the mood among producers in manufacturing industry has remained high for more than a year now.

Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: anticipated output over the next three months, producers’ opinions about the stock of finished products and their opinions about the order position. Manufacturers were even slightly more optimistic about order position than in July. The future production indicator decreased marginally. The indicator denoting the stock of finished products did not change in August.

Producers indicating an increase in the number of orders received outnumbered those who think order receipts have declined. On the domestic market, the number of order received increased substantially. On the foreign market, the number of orders decreased somewhat. The order position index (orders received expressed in months of work) remained almost the same at 113.1.

Manufacturers were also optimistic with respect to employment. In August, the number of manufacturers who expected to have to recruit new staff marginally outnumbered again those who expected to have to cut back on staff.

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry