KOF Barometer falls in May due to subdued momentum
Published: Thursday, May 30th 2024, 09:30
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The economic outlook for Switzerland clouded over again somewhat last month. Although the economy is robust, it has little momentum, as the latest KOF Economic Barometer shows.
Specifically, the KOF Barometer deteriorated by 1.6 points to 100.3 points in May, as reported by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich on Thursday. The previous month's value for March was revised downwards slightly to 101.9 from 101.8.
After rising slightly in April, the barometer is now falling again. However, it remains above its medium-term average, albeit only just. Since the beginning of the year, the barometer has thus not managed to rise more significantly, the press release continues.
The value is clearly below estimates. Experts surveyed by the news agency AWP had forecast it to be between 102.0 and 103.0 points.
The indicator bundles for the manufacturing industry, financial and insurance services and foreign business in particular slowed down overall development in May, after having developed positively in each case in the previous month.
Private consumption and construction industry positive
In contrast, the indicators for private consumption and the construction industry cushioned this decline with their respective increases.
In the manufacturing sector, which includes the processing and construction industries, aspects such as employment prospects, inventories and production trends in particular have deteriorated, according to the press release. In contrast, the indicators for orders for primary products have developed positively.
According to the KOF, the slowdown is noticeable almost everywhere within the manufacturing industry. This was particularly noticeable in mechanical engineering, wood, glass, stone and earth, as well as in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Meanwhile, manufacturers of food and beverages were able to buck the downward trend.
The KOF Economic Barometer is a leading indicator for the development of the Swiss economy, which is made up of a large number of individual indicators. These are combined into an overall indicator using statistically determined weightings.
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