March 28, 2023
The recovery of the business barometer, which began last December, strengthened considerably in March.
The economic environment was noticeably better in business-related services and, to a lesser extent, in the manufacturing industry and trade. In the building industry, the economic
situation continues to develop in a slightly positive manner.
The business-related services sector reported a solid improvement. Leaders were particularly optimistic about the expected progression of their activity levels and general market demand.
The uptick of the indicator in the manufacturing industry was mainly due to an upward revision of the employment outlook and a more favourable assessment of total order books.
In trade, the economic trend remains tentative. Last month’s pessimism was tempered somewhat this month by a significant improvement in the demand outlook. However, traders expect both employment and orders placed with suppliers to decline.
In the building industry, the business environment remained slightly positive for the second straight month. A more pessimistic assessment of order books and reduced use of equipment were offset by an improved trend in orders and better demand expectations.
As a result of the positive development of the survey indicator over the past months, the overall smoothed synthetic curve, which reflects the underlying economic trend, continues to point upwards
Source: National Bank of Belgium
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