Producer confidence soaring

Producer confidence soared in March 2011. The indicator stood at 5.8 versus 1.7 in February. As a result, producer confidence reached the highest level in three years.

Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: manufacturers’ opinions on their stocks of finished products, the expected output in the next three months and manufacturers’ opinions on their order position.

Opinions on stocks of finished products improved considerably in March. Manufacturers were also much more optimistic about their future output. Opinions on order positions also improved, though to a lesser degree.

For the first time in two and a half years, manufacturers were optimistic in March about future employment in their sector. Manufacturers expecting to recruit new staff in the next three months outnumbered those expecting layoffs.

Just as in the preceding months, Dutch manufacturers expected selling prices to rise in the three months to come. Manufacturers reported an increase in the value of orders received. With 105.2, the order position index (orders received expressed in months of work) was slightly higher than in February.

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.