Stats: Mood among Slovak Consumers in August Worst in Past Six Months

Bratislava, August 28 (TASR) - The mood among Slovak consumers in August 2024 was the worst in the past six months, with consumers being mainly concerned about developments in unemployment and the overall economic situation, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. The mood also worsened among entrepreneurs engaged in construction and services, while those engaged in industry and trade were slightly more optimistic. Despite the pessimism among consumers, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell by just 0.1 points to 104.4 in August. After seasonal adjustments, the confidence indicator in industry grew by 1.7 points to 4 in August. This growth chiefly resulted from an increase in expected output in the upcoming three months, especially in the chemicals industry and in the production of means of transport and electric appliances. The seasonally adjusted confidence indicator in services decreased by 1.3 points to 5.7, in particular owing to worse assessments of the business situation. Confidence among consumers worsened in August, with the indicator going down by 1.9 points from the previous month to -11.5. Although this was the lowest figure seen in the past six months, it still exceeded the long-term average, by 8.7 points. Consumers were more pessimistic in all four components of the indicator, most of all about developments in unemployment and the overall economic situation. However, they were also more downbeat than in July when it came to the financial situation of their households, the overall financial situation and savings. The confidence indicator in trade rose by 0.7 points from July to stand at 6.7. The respondents mainly evaluated positively the current trend in business activities along with its expected development in the upcoming three months. The confidence indicator in construction fell by 1.5 points to -10 in August under the influence of more pessimistic evaluations of expected employment. ko/df