Finland Consumers More Pessimistic In November, Business Morale Improves

(RTTNews) - Consumers in Finland showed a more pessimistic attitude in November, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday.

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

The consumer confidence index dropped to -7.4 in November from -6.8 in October. Moreover, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.6.

The data was collected from 1,237 people between November 1 and 18.

Consumers' views on their own economy at present and expectations concerning their own and Finland's economy were subdued, the survey said.

During November, households still regarded the time as very unfavorable for buying durable goods, and intentions to buy a dwelling were lower than usual.

The survey showed that inflation expectations remained fairly high, and consumers felt that their personal threat of unemployment was also elevated in November.

The industrial confidence index rose to -7.0 in November from -12.0 in October, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. Nonetheless, the confidence was well below the long-term average of +1.

Production is expected to increase rather slowly in the coming months, and order backlogs improved, though still remained below normal.

Business confidence strengthened across all major sectors, except for retail trade.