Finland Consumers Less Pessimistic In July; Business Morale Rises

(RTTNews) - Finland's consumer confidence remained less negative in July, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Monday.

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

The consumer confidence index rose to -6.4 in July from -8.6 in June. However, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.7.

The data was collected from 1,130 people between July 1 and 17.

Consumers' views on their own economy at present improved compared to the previous month, while expectations concerning their own economy in 12 months weakened.

In July, the time was no longer considered as unfavorable for buying durable goods, and fewer consumers than usual had plans to buy a dwelling or make renovations to their dwelling.

Concerns regarding the general unemployment situation in the country stayed pessimistic in July, and consumers estimated in July that consumer prices would go up by 4.1 percent over the next year.

The industrial confidence index rose to -6.0 in July from -9.0 in June, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. The confidence was below the long-term average of 0.

Production is expected to increase somewhat in the coming months, and the order backlog was clearly below average.

Business confidence weakened in the services, construction, and retail spheres.