Majority Finns see economy to perk up

The majority of Finns believe that the country’s economic situation will improve in the next one year, according to the Statistics Finland.

Fifty-two per cent of the consumers said in May that they believe that Finland’s economic situation would improve in the next 12 months, while only nine per cent thought that the country’s economy would deteriorate. Twelve months previously, the corresponding proportions were 39 and 22 per cent.

In all, 27 per cent of the consumers in May believed that their own economy would improve and 12 per cent of them feared it would worsen over the year. One month earlier, the corresponding percentages were 28 and 10, and one year earlier 26 and 14.

Altogether, 47 per cent of the consumers in May thought that unemployment would decrease over the year, while 16 per cent believed it would increase. In April the respective proportions were 45 and 19 per cent and 12 months ago those were gloomy 22 and 38 per cent.

Nineteen per cent of the employed persons in May reckoned that their personal threat of unemployment had lessened over the past few months, while 14 per cent thought it had grown. Twenty-two per cent of the employed persons felt they were not threatened by unemployment at all.

The consumers estimated in May that consumer prices would go up by 1.7 per cent over the next 12 months.

The predicted long-term average inflation rate is 2.2 per cent. The consumers estimated that inflation is currently 1.1 per cent. In May 2016, the estimate was clearly lower – 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, in May, the consumer confidence indicator (CCI) stood at 24.1, which in April was 21.5 and in March 22.9, according to Statistics Finland.

The May’s figure is the highest during 1995 to 2017. In last year’s May, the CCI received the value 12.5.

The long-term average for the CCI is 11.9. The data are based on Statistics Finland’s Consumer Survey, for which 1,209 people residing in Finland were interviewed between 2 and 17 May.

Of the CCI components, expectations on unemployment development and household’s saving possibilities improved in particular in May, compared with that in April. By contrast, views on consumers’ own economy weakened slightly and expectations concerning Finland’s economy remained almost unchanged. Compared with the corresponding period last year, all the components improved clearly in May.