According to the business leaders interviewed in April 2012, the situation in the retail trade and in the trade and repair of motor vehicles still looks up: the synthetic indicator increases by four points but remains below its long-term average yet.
Recent sales stay low enough. However, if they have kept on declining in trade and repair of motor vehicles, they have gone up in non specialised retail trade. In the whole retail trade and trade and repair of motor vehicles, there are more business owners expecting a rise of sales and ordering intentions. Each of the two balances is now near its average.
General business outlook improves again, sign that the retailers are more optimistic 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) | Jan. 12 | Feb. 12 | Mar. 12 | April 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business climate | 100 | 89 | 90 | 94 | 98 |
| General business outlook | 29 | 47 | 47 | 37 | 32 |
| Recent sales | 4 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| Expected sales | 1 | 23 | 15 | 9 | 1 |
| Ordering intentions | 7 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
| Stocks | 11 | 23 | 19 | 19 | 15 |
| Past selling prices (2) | 6 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Expected selling prices | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Cash position (2) | 14 | 19 | 21 | ||
| Workforce size: recent trend | 1 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| Workforce size: future trend | 2 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 7 |
n° 102 - April 23, 2012
Monthly survey of retailing - April 2012
Next issue June 25, 2013 08:45 - June 2013
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