Regional network summaries

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Region North

Interview round:  1-2007
Interview period: January and February 2007

Summary

• There is still solid growth in Region North. In the period ahead, growth is expected at about the same rate.
• Growth in domestically-oriented manufacturing will continue, but at a slower rate than earlier. Growth is primarily driven by the shipbuilding industry and suppliers to the petroleum industry. Growth is increasing in the export industry. There is very strong demand for metals and fish. There is no sign of a slowdown in the export industry. Solid growth is expected in manufacturing in the period ahead.
• In building and construction, there is zero growth, primarily reflecting high capacity utilisation. Zero growth is also projected in the next six months.
• In retail trade, there is solid growth, but moderate growth is projected in the next 6 months. Growth is highest for sales of brown and white goods, furniture and sports articles.
• Growth will also continue in the service sector, and growth rates will be a somewhat higher than in the previous round in corporate services. Growth is strongest in staff recruitment, technical consulting, legal services, management consulting, IT services and banking.
• 56 per cent of the contacts report in this round that they will have some or considerable problems meeting an expected or unexpected growth in demand. This is on a par with the two previous rounds.
• There has been growth in employment in manufacturing, the service sector, retail trade and the local government and hospital sectors. In building and construction, employment was unchanged from the previous period. For the next three months, growth in employment is expected in the service sector and manufacturing. Growth is expected to be strongest in the service sector. In the other sectors, employment will be stable. The percentage that report that labour availability is a constraint is still highest in building and construction. Compared with the previous round, labour availability has been a greater constraintI in the service sector and the local government and hospital sectors.
• Annual wage growth for 2007 is expected to be between 3.5 and 5 per cent in this round, which is higher than in the round one year earlier.
• Prices in the previous 12 months have risen sharply in manufacturing and moderately in the household services. In retail trade,the rise in prices was zero, while there has been a marked rise in prices in the other sectors. The greatest change on the previous round was in domestically oriented manufacturing. In the next 12 months, 44 per cent of our contacts expect unchanged price rises, while 30 per cent expect higher price rises. The percentage that expect higher price rises is higher than in the previous round. Expected prices rises are highest in building and construction, which is the sector with the highest overall increase in raw material prices.