Providers of business service less pleased

Optimism among business service providers deteriorated further in September. They were less pleased with the amount of orders received. On balance, 5 percent evaluated the number of orders received as ‘good’, given the time of year, as against 9 percent in August.

Business service providers were a wee bit more optimistic about the economic climate than a month ago. Altogether, 5 percent of them labelled the economic climate, as ‘good’ in September, as opposed to only 1 percent in August, but they were far less enthusiastic about the state of the economy than in 2007.

Additionally, business service providers were a bit more positive about their future order portfolio. The number of business service providers expecting to receive more orders and to generate a higher turnover in the next three months easily exceeded those anticipating a decline. 

Providers of business services expect employment in their branch to expand. In September, 21 percent expected to recruit more staff in the next three months, an increase relative to August. One third of business service providers report that staff shortages constitute curb expansion. More than half of them saw no obstacles for their business activities in September.

Opinion on orders received in business services