In the business-related services sector, all underlying components of the indicator contracted. Business leaders expressed a clearly more negative assessment of their level of activity. Moreover, their expectations in this area were also much more reserved. In the trade sector, less optimistic employment expectations contributed substantially to the drop in confidence. On the other hand, demand expectations were better than the preceding month. Demand expectations also improved in the manufacturing industry. Business sentiment nonetheless deteriorated due to unfavourable assessments of order books and stock levels. ... (full story)