Manufacturing (Germany):
Plans to hire additional staff

The current business situation was judged even more positively in manufacturing than in the previous month, but in consumer durables a clear downward movement was evident. The rise in demand and stepped-up production continued, albeit at a weaker pace, and order backlogs were still higher than normal levels. Reports of too large inventories still played only a small role. In the business expectations, high confidence was again expressed; likewise the surveyed firms remain optimistic regarding exports. Production plans are again more frequently expansive. Also the willingness to employ additional workers has increased, after staff levels have been assessed as too low, especially in the capital goods sector. According to the responses, prices could rise slightly in the coming months. In eastern German manufacturing, the improvement of the business situation is due to the favourable development in intermediate products and nondurable consumer goods, whereas producers of capital goods and especially durable consumer goods gave less positive assessments than in the previous month. The business outlook, however, was appraised more optimistically in all manufacturing sectors. On average, the plans of the enterprises point to an expansion of production in the coming months; employee levels should remain stable.