Manufacturers slightly less positive
The mood among Dutch manufacturers deteriorated marginally in April. The producer confidence indicator fell to 0.3. The indicator was 1.1 in March, the highest level since the summer of 2011.
Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: manufacturers’ opinions on their order positions, their opinions on their stocks of finished products and the projected output over the next three months. The decline in April is predominantly due to the fact that manufacturers were less positive about their stocks of finished products. They were also less optimistic about their order positions and their future output.
Producer confidence in manufacturing industry
The capacity utilisation rate improved for the fourth quarter in a row. In April 2014, Dutch manufacturing industry utilised 80.2 percent of its available production capacity. In April last year, the capacity utilisation rate reached the lowest level in four years (75.6 percent).
Capacity utilisation rate
More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.
For more information on economic indicators, the reader is referred to the Economic Monitor.