Services: business expectations less sceptical

The Ifo Business Climate Indicator for the service sector (excluding distribution, banking, leasing, insurance and government) rose once again in May. The sur-vey participants, however, have assessed their current business situation somewhat more cautiously than in the previous month, but they are a bit less sceptical regarding the six-month business outlook. The companies had lower turnover than in the comparable previous-year month, and also for the near fu-ture they expect a slight decline in turnover. They plan to reduce staff levels only insignificantly.