Denmark: Manufacturing firms remain pessimistic in November

According to a survey conducted by Statistics Denmark, business confidence among firms in the industrial sector ticked up to minus 1 point in November from minus 2 points in October, remaining below the zero-point threshold that separates optimism from pessimism in the sector.

The slight improvement in industrial business sentiment was driven by firms’ greater confidence in the production outlook. Meanwhile, their perspective of order books was unchanged from last month, while inventory levels increased, signaling weaker demand.

Regarding the other sectors of the economy, confidence swung back to optimistic territory in the construction sector on a better outlook for the labor market, whereas sentiment in both the service and retail sectors deteriorated in November due to weaker revenue prospects and a sharp inventory buildup, respectively.

Denmark Fixed Investment Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect gross fixed investment to increase 3.5% in 2019, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast and 3.9% in 2020.