Services (Germany):
Continued shortage of skilled workers

The renewed improvement in the business climate in the service sector in Germany (excluding trade, banking, leasing, insurance and government services) in January was the result of clearly more optimistic six-month expectations, whereas the current business situation was assessed a little less positively for the fourth time in succession. The comparable previous-year sales were again surpassed, but on the whole firms were still not very satisfied with their order reserves. For the coming months more firms expect an increase in demand. They plan to continue to increase staff levels, especially since the shortage of specialists is restraining business activity to an unchanged extent. According to the survey responses, price increases will continue.