Consumers’ confidence in the economy improved in January compared to December 2021, according to Statistics Finland. However, confidence weakened a year ago.
The consumer confidence indicator’s January result of -1.7 is in line with the long-term average. The CCI was -3.5 in December and 1.2 in November. In January last year, the confidence indicator was -0.9.
The data are based on Statistics Finland’s consumer confidence survey, which was answered by almost 1,000 Finns in January.
Consumers who want to invest in housing
Consumer confidence in the national economy was relatively weak in January. In contrast, consumers’ views on their own financial situation remained excellent.
In January, a significant proportion of consumers planned to buy, build or renovate a home. Many also said they would consider buying a car next year.
In January, as in previous surveys, consumer confidence in the economy was by far the strongest in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
In general, confidence in the economy grows with income. According to Statistics Finland, men have more confidence in the economy than women.
Business confidence varies by industry
The Confederation of Finnish Industries EK also found that corporate confidence continued to rise in January.
"Finnish industry is still booming and the biggest growth issue is still the availability of materials. On the other hand, the restricted industries are suffering severely," said the director of EK Sami Pakarinen in a press release.
Chief Economist of Danske Bank Pasi Kuoppamรคki said the results are good, given that the increase in Covid cases and government restrictions may have eroded confidence in the economy.
EK encourages new employment policy
More than a third of the respondents to the EK survey stated that the availability of skilled labor was a problem. In the construction sector, as many as half of the respondents considered the lack of skilled labor to be an obstacle to economic growth.
According to the CEO of EK Jyri HรคkรคmiesFinland must move towards an active employment policy similar to the Swedish model.
"At the same time, Finland has high unemployment and the most severe shortage of skilled labor ever, which hampers the growth potential of companies." Hรคkรคmies said in a press release.
About 1,200 companies representing a quarter of a million employees in Finland took part in the survey.
Source: The Nordic Page
