Business growth for Finnish companies in the first four months of 2014 was fairly modest, with expectations for the coming summer slightly more optimistic than anticipated. But a marked upturn is not yet on the horizon.
In the EK's survey, the prevailing economic conditions were described as below average in all of the main economic sectors.
For manufacturing, output is expected to remain at its current level or grow by a very small margin in the upcoming months. In services, the weak trend in sales is expected to turn into one of cautious growth. The labour force, however, is expected to continue on a slight downward trend in all of the main sectors.
The EK Business Tendency Survey is published four times a year by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK). For the April survey, 1,163 companies employing 260,000 people in Finland responded.