Finland Consumers Less Pessimistic In April; Business Morale Weakens

(RTTNews) - Finland's consumer confidence improved somewhat in April but remained weak overall, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Monday.

Separate data from the Confederation of Finnish Industries revealed that industrial sentiment weakened and continued to remain below the long-term average.

The consumer confidence index rose to -7.4 in April from -8.2 in March. Nonetheless, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.7.

The data was collected from 1,219 people between April 1 and 15.

Consumers' views on their own economy at present improved, though they were still very weak, and expectations concerning one's own economy also rose slightly, the survey said.

During April, the time was still regarded as very unfavorable for buying durable goods, and intentions to spend money on consumption were quite low. In addition, fewer than usual were planning to buy a dwelling.

Concerns regarding unemployment were fairly gloomy in April, and consumers estimated in April that consumer prices would go up by 4.2 percent over the next year.

The industrial confidence index worsened to -10.0 in April from -5.0 in March, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. The confidence was below the long-term average of 0.

Production is expected to remain stagnant in the coming months, and the order backlog was clearly below the normal level.

Business confidence weakened slightly in services, while morale strengthened in retail and construction spheres.