British Chamber of Commerce Q1 2015 Quarterly Economic Survey(QES) shows a decline across almost all areas. Growth is continuing, but has slowed, with drops in employment rates, sales and investment – only balance for profitability confidence in the manufacturing sector has increased on Q4 2014 figures.
Both orders and sales in the domestic and international markets fell, with the exception of manufacturing export orders, which remained unchanged. For example, manufacturing’s domestic sales figure dropped 6% to +30%, while services fell 4%, to the lowest figure in over a year, to 34%.
Businesses in both sectors are expecting to hire fewer new staff members than they were last quarter, but they also reported hiring fewer over the last quarter. However, the employment figures remain higher than the historical average.
Businesses are investing less than they reported last quarter, and are expecting to invest less in the future. Meanwhile, despite drops in confidence, businesses are still, on average, positive about the future.
There was a significant decrease in the number of businesses intending to raise prices, especially in the manufacturing sector, which dropped 10 points to +11%. Unsurprisingly, the factors contributing to price pressures, including raw material costs, financial costs and settlement costs, also dropped.
