The National Institute of Statistics (INE) has published this Thursday the report that takes the temperature of business confidence each quarter and reflects good expectations for the first three months of the year. The Harmonized Business Confidence Index, which tries to anticipate the evolution of the economy through the opinion of business managers on the current situation and the prospects of their business, grows 1.4% compared to the quarter of 2022 and draws a particularly positive scenario for the industrial sector, in which confidence increased by 3.5%.
The study also provides encouraging data regarding employment, given that 78.8% of managers of business establishments consider that employment will remain stable in their company, which is the best data since 2021. In addition, almost 8% plan to make new incorporations before March. These percentages are equal to the values provided in the same report three years ago, before the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, although at that time fewer businessmen considered expanding their workforce (7.1%). However, it remains at a distance of five tenths compared to the value of 2019.
