Ljubljana, 25 October (STA) - Business sentiment in Slovenia improved in October, with the index rising by 3.5 percentage points over September to 11.6 points. Nevertheless, the indicator was 3.9 points lower than in October last year.
The index stood 12.8 points above the long-term average, the Statistics Office said on Thursday.
The value of index has been decreasing ever since January, when it reached the pre-crisis levels, but favourable trends in most business sectors ensured an upturn in October.
Manufacturing, where the indicator improved by 3.1 points, was the main driver of the monthly increase in sentiment.
Confidence indicators among consumers, in retail and in construction also added their share to the monthly improvement, while the indicator in services was down by 0.3 points.
At the yearly level, a drop of 1.4 points in confidence among consumers took away the most from the overall sentiment. Indicators in services (-1 pp), manufacturing (-0.9 pp), retail (-0.4 pp) and construction (-0.2 pp) were also down.