According to the business leaders surveyed (approximately 8,500 companies and establishments between 28 November and 5 December), activity continued to rise in market services and the finishing works of the construction sector, while it was almost stable in industry and declined in structural works. Forecasts for December suggest that activity in the services sector will continue to grow, while it will ease in industry and contract in construction. Order books continued to weaken in industry, and even more so in the structural works sector of the construction industry.
Selling prices continued to moderate. According to business leaders, raw material prices continued to fall, whilefinished goods prices remained virtually unchanged. In all three main sectors, the share of companies that increased their prices over the previous month stabilised at around pre‑Covid levels.
Recruitment difficulties remained almost stable and still affected 45% of companies (down from 44% last month).
The uncertainty indicator remained above its pre‑Covidlevel in the construction sector. The cash position remained unchanged in industry and services, but was still deemed weak.
Based on the survey results, together with other indicators, we estimate that GDP should increase slightly by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, after a fall of 0.1% in the third quarter, driven by market services.
