According to the business leaders interviewed in February 2012, the situation in the retail trade and in the trade and repair of motor vehicles remains unfavourable: the synthetic indicator stabilise clearly below its long-term average.
Recent sales stay low enough. However, if they have kept on declining in trade and repair of motor vehicles, they have gone up in retail trade. In the whole retail trade and trade and repair of motor vehicles, there are less business owners who expect a fall of sales and ordering intentions. Nevertheless, each of the two balances is significantly below its average. General business outlook stabilise, sign that the retailers remain pessimistic about the economic situation in the trade sector.
Business climate synthetic indicator

Recent sales and ordering intentions

| Balances of opinion, in %, s.a. | |||||
| (1) Average since 1991 (2004 for recent and expected sales and ordering intentions). | |||||
| (2) Bi-monthly question (odd-numberred months). | |||||
| Source : monthly survey in the retail trade and in the trade and repair of motor vehicles - INSEE | |||||
| Ave. (1) | Nov. 11 | Dec. 11 | Jan. 12 | Feb. 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business climate | 100 | 93 | 93 | 89 | 89 |
| General business outlook | 29 | 42 | 42 | 47 | 48 |
| Recent sales | 4 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 16 |
| Expected sales | 0 | 8 | 14 | 23 | 16 |
| Ordering intentions | 7 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 16 |
| Stocks | 11 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 20 |
| Past selling prices (2) | 6 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Expected selling prices | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Cash position (2) | 14 | 19 | 20 | ||
| Workforce size: recent trend | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| Workforce size: future trend | 2 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
n° 46 - February 20, 2012
Monthly survey of retailing - February 2012
Next issue June 25, 2013 08:45 - June 2013
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