Finland Consumers More Gloomy In April, Business Morale Weakens
Finland’s consumers expressed a more pessimistic approach in April, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Monday.
Separate data from the Confederation of Finnish Industries revealed that industrial sentiment continued to weaken at the start of the second quarter.
The consumer confidence index dropped to -12.6 in April from -9.4 in March. Further, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.5.
The data was collected from 1,211 people between April 1 and 18.
Households’ views towards the outlook of Finland’s economy in 12 months’ time were on a gloomy level. Expectations concerning consumers’ own economies, and especially estimates of their own economies at present, were very weak.
Purchasing intentions were generally very low, as households still regarded the time as very unfavourable for buying durable goods. In addition, intentions to spend money on cars and dwellings remained subdued.
The survey showed those households’ concerns about consumer price inflation in one year’s time continued to drop slightly, though still fairly high.
Expectations regarding the way the country’s unemployment rate continued to be gloomy, as 58 percent of consumers believed unemployment would rise.
The industrial confidence index dropped to -17 in April from -13 in March, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. Further, the confidence was well below the long-term average of +1.
Among the main sectors, only the construction sector signalled an increase in April.
Production is expected to decrease in the coming months, while order backlogs have continued to shrink, the survey said.
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