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Business and consumer confidence declines in September. For the latter there was a decline from 106.5 to 105.4 while the composite business confidence climate index returned to 104.9 from the previous 106.7, to the levels of October 2022. «The decrease of the business confidence index extends to all sectors of activity, with the exception of construction” we read in a note from the Institute. As far as families are concerned, the negative cycle does not stop for the third consecutive month.
«There is a marked worsening of assessments on the general economic situation, an increase in expectations on unemployment and an improvement in assessments regarding the family’s financial situation» observes Istat. Signals denied by the variables that refer to the general economic situation while there is greater heterogeneity among the variables that refer to the personal situation. These variations are summarized by the four indicators calculated monthly starting from the same components: the economic climate, the current climate and the future climate decrease, respectively, from 121.5 to 115.2, from 101.4 to 100.2 and from 114 .1 to 113.2; instead, the personal climate increases from 101.5 to 102.2.
Business sentiment
With reference to businesses, a reduction in the confidence index is estimated for all the sectors investigated, with the exception of construction. In more detail, the confidence index fell in manufacturing from 97.7 to 96.4, in services from 103.5 to 100.5 and in trade from 108.7 to 107.3. In construction the index rises slightly from 160.2 to 160.9.
As for the components of the confidence indices, in manufacturing and services all the variables worsen. In the retail trade, assessments on sales deteriorate markedly while the related expectations decrease slightly in the presence of a decline in inventories. As regards construction, assessments on construction orders/plans are characterized by optimism while expectations on employment at the company show a negative trend.