Not only do the figures show that ‘business optimism’ hit a two-year low at the end of last year, but 30 per cent of companies reported a fall in business with 53 per cent saying trade was stagnant.
Although faring better than construction and retail, the business activity indicator for the finance industry was at its lowest level for two years.
Business optimism within the industry in December was ‘strongly negative’ for the second consecutive quarter and the profitability indicator remained negative.
The data, which was compiled by the States Statistics Unit, revealed that the business activity indicator – the percentage difference between businesses reporting an increase in trade compared to a decrease – was up five percentage points.
Although positive, with five per cent more firms reporting growth than contraction, the figure is the lowest for 24 months.
