Mood among manufacturers further down

The mood among Dutch manufacturers deteriorated further in May. The producer confidence indicator stood at – 5.0 versus – 3.3 in April. Manufacturers have gradually become more pessimistic over the first five months of 2012.

Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: manufacturers’ opinions on their order positions, the expected output over the next three months and opinions on their stocks of finished products.

Manufacturers’ opinions on their order positions deteriorated significantly. This indicator fell to the lowest level in twenty-four months. Their opinions on their stocks of finished products also deteriorated marginally. Manufacturers  were as pessimistic about their output in the next three months as in the preceding month.

Just like in the preceding months, manufacturers indicating that the value of the orders they received has grown in the past three months were outnumbered by those reporting a decline. The index order position (orders expressed in months of work) dropped to 100.1.

Manufacturers were more pessimistic about future employment in their sector than in the preceding months. The number of manufacturers anticipating staff cuts in the next three months was distinctly higher than the number of manufacturers expecting employment to improve.

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.