Construction (Germany):
Slight business climate improvement

In construction the business climate index improved somewhat. The business situation in construction has been fluctuating laterally since the beginning of the year. In September the firms again assessed their current business situation more favourably and the six-month outlook is regarded less negatively. Equipment utilisation is at a similar level as twelve months ago: in civil engineering utilisation lags behind the previous year but in structural engineering it is above the previous-year level. The dissatisfaction with order reserves increased slightly for construction as a whole, and employment plans have been lowered somewhat. Few firms reckon with increasing prices.