Finland Consumers Slightly Less Pessimistic, Business Confidence Improves

(RTTNews) - Consumers in Finland showed a slightly less negative attitude at the start of the year, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Monday.

Separate data from the Confederation of Finnish Industries revealed that industrial sentiment improved somewhat but remained below long-term average.

The consumer confidence index rose to -8.4 in January from -8.6 in December. Nonetheless, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.6.

The data was collected from 1,238 people between January 1 and 16.

Consumers' views on their own economy at present still weakened compared to the previous month and were very low. Expectations concerning both consumers' own and Finland's economy in 12 months remained almost unchanged and subdued, the survey said.

During January, households still regarded buying durable goods very unfavorably, and intentions to spend money on consumption were low.

The survey showed that inflation expectations remained fairly high and unchanged, and consumers also continued to remain very pessimistic about the general unemployment situation in the country.

The industrial confidence index rose to -7.0 in January from -9.0 in December, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. Further, the confidence was well below the long-term average of 0.

Production is expected to increase slightly in the coming months, and order backlog showed an increase, but it is still remaining below normal.

Business confidence strengthened in construction, and services morale remained stable in January. Meanwhile, retail trade confidence decreased marginally.