German Indexes Show Some Unexpected Life…but not That Much

November 27, 2007

By Robert Brusca

 

· The overall IFO business sentiment index rose to 104.2 in November from 103.9 in October. Current conditions improved to 110.4 from 109.6. But expectations slipped to 98.3 from 98.6. Even so the table below shows that the growth of the various indexes is slipping further. The Biz climate index, though higher on the month, is 2.5% lower year/year worse off than in October. The current conditions index has fallen more year/year as well. Business Expectations are off by 2%, their worst year/year drop so far. 

· The graph speaks to sectors. Retailing is weakening. Services are flattening. Manufacturing actually picked up in the month, but not by a lot. 

IFO Survey: Germany

 

Percent: Yr/Yr

Index Numbers

 

Nov-07

Oct-07

Sep-07

Aug-07

Jul-07

CURRENT

Average

Curr/Avg

Percentile

Biz Climate

-2.5%

-1.5%

-0.9%

0.7%

0.8%

104.2

95.8

108.8%

81.0%

Current Situation

-3.1%

-2.1%

-1.3%

2.5%

2.4%

110.4

94.9

116.3%

84.8%

Biz Expectations: Next 6-Mos

-2.0%

-0.7%

-0.4%

-1.1%

-0.9%

98.3

96.7

101.6%

67.3%

 

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