Finland: Economic sentiment falls to 10-month low in February
Economic sentiment came in at 86.8 in February, down from January’s 88.6. As a result, the index moved further below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a downbeat near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected dampened sentiment in the construction sector. Moreover, sentiment in the retail sector waned in the surveyed month, and sentiment in the services sector waned in February. More positively, sentiment in the industrial sector improved. Finally, consumer confidence cooled in February.
Relating to indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations improved, while the economic uncertainty index fell in February.