Economic Outlook Remains Mostly Pessimistic

Despite a sideways movement, the results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey) continue to show pessimistic economic assessments in September. The WIFO Business Climate Index stood at –8.4 points (seasonally adjusted), 0.3 points above the value of the previous month (–8.7 points). With the exception of services, assessments of the current situation continued to lose some momentum in all sectors and remain deeply negative, especially in manufacturing. Economic expectations, on the other hand, improved slightly but continue to signal a pessimistic economic outlook across all sectors. Sales price expectations continued to decline in manufacturing, but remained slightly above average in services and retail.