Construction (Germany):
Increase in employment levels

The improvement in the business situation in construction is attributable primarily to the expansion in civil engineering, whereas the assessments in structural engineering, due to the worsening in residential construction, were somewhat more negative than in June. Equipment utilisation held steady at 68%, which was two percentage points below the level of 12 months ago. Order reserves increased somewhat in structural and in civil engineering; on average, building contractors have an order depth of 2.5 production months, somewhat less than at the same time last year. Confidence in the business outlook, however, has weakened slightly. According to the responses of the firms, leeway for raising construction prices will tend to narrow in the coming months. As in previous months, the contractors expect to hire addition staff. In eastern German construction the business situation also improved more in civil engineering than in structural engineering. Equipment utilisation (72%) declined slightly and was again lower than at the same time of the previous year. The range of order reserves increased to 2.1 months. The surveyed firms also expect further improvement of the employment situation.