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Region East

Summary

• Solid growth continues in Region East. All industries report solid growth during the past three months. There are no signs of a slowdown. Growth is expected to remain solid in the period ahead.
• The solid growth in domestically oriented manufacturing continues. Building-related manufacturing reports particularly strong growth. The growth rate in the export industry is solid.
• Growth in building and construction is solid and appears to be stronger than in the previous round. Growth is currently stronger in the commercial building sector than in residential construction. Construction growth is strong.
• Growth in retail trade is solid. Growth is strongest in the furniture, clothing and footwear segments.
• Corporate services report the strongest growth. This has been the case for some time. Growth is particularly solid in commercial and financial services. The strong growth is expected to continue for another six months. Growth in household services is somewhat lower than growth in corporate services.
• 61% of the companies report that they would have difficulty in accommodating expected or unexpected growth in demand. This percentage is higher than in the previous round, but slightly lower than in November. The problems are still most pronounced in building and construction where the supply of both labour and materials and insulation are constraints on production.
• Employment has increased in the past three months, and employment growth is higher than in the previous round. Employment growth has been strongest in building and construction. Employment growth is expected to continue during the next three months but at a somewhat slower pace than in the past three months.
• The projection for annual wage growth in 2007 is approximately 5¼%, 0.5 percentage point higher than in the previous round.
• The rise in selling prices is solid and is higher than in the previous round. Manufacturing and building and construction in particular report that price increases have gathered pace. Fewer of our contacts expect a higher rise in prices in the period ahead.