Construction (Germany):
Unchanged order stocks

In construction the business situation improved slightly but is still in a far from satisfactory condition. In structural engineering the assessments were slightly better than in the previous month but in civil engineering a little worse. Equipment utilisation remained unchanged; at 69% the comparable previous-year value (72%) was not matched, however. Also the order stocks (2.5 production months) remained unchanged, increasing in structural engineering and decreasing in civil engineering. The share of builders that complained of insufficient orders (30%) has increased; 12 months ago it was only 17%. The outlook was appraised with restrained optimism, with an upward development expected in civil engineering. An increase in the number of the employees is expected only to a small extent, however. The scope for price increases seems to have grown a little. Unlike the federal average, contractors in eastern Germany assessed their current business situation a little more negatively than in November, both in structural as well as in civil engineering. Equipment utilisation at 71% was three percentage points below that of the previous year. Order stocks decreased to 2.0 months but were somewhat larger than 12 months ago. The outlook brightened in civil engineering a little but clouded over in structural engineering. The number of survey participants that plan to employ additional workers has increased slightly.