Business And Economic Indicators

Business and economic indicators are very useful in monitoring and steering a business or an economy. Indices can be developed to monitor almost anything. Some recent figures from various sources may show how they can help give a sense of direction.

UK retail sales fell 1.2% on a like-for-like basis and 0.6% total compared with March last year. Food sales were slightly up. Non-food non-store sales, a part of total sales and an index that includes Internet sales, were 10.8% up on last year. The timing of Easter made comparisons with March last year difficult because Easter was included in last years March calculations (Interpreted from BRC figures) but will be in April's this year.

The CBI's March survey reported that the majority of retailers said year-on-year sales for March were down but that expectations had been higher. They do not expect any improvement next month.

Manufacturing output decreased by 6.5% in February. The Index is at 90.4, 12.2% down on the same p[eriod last year. Between January and February output decreased by 0.9% from revised figures. Falls were mainly in the car industry, metals and machinery industries (Interpreted from ONS figures).

Producer output prices rose by 2% in the year to March 2009. The Index rose 0.1% from February to March 2009. Excluding food and beverages the rise was 3.3% over the year and 0.2% February to March. Input prices fell 0.4% over the year but rose by 1% from February to March 2009. Input prices excluding food and beverages rose by 7.4% in the year to March and 0.2% February to March (Interpreted from ONS figures).

Consumer confidence is increasing gradually. It is the highest since May 2008 and has risen 5 points to -30 according to NOP. It is still well down on March 2008 by 11 points but the recession hadn't taken hold then. Confidence in the general economic situation is up 7 points to -75 but it is still 32 points down on this time last year. Expectations for the next 12 months have increased by 9 points. Consumers are also more confident about saving than last month but again well down on this time last year (Interpreted from the Consumer Confidence Barometer, NOP/GfK).

The Net Rate of Return of UK companies in private non-financial category for Q4, 2008 was 12.8%. The revised estimate for Q3 was 13.7% or down 0.9%. NRR for manufacturing was 8.5% and services 15.8%. The annual net rate of return for 2008 was 13.8%. It compares with 14.8% of 2007. The Net Rate of Return is an indicator of the profitability of a company (An interpretation of ONS figures).

These indicators can tell us about a business or an economy. They may be accurate, they may not but even if not, that might tell us something about the researchers and/or their methodology.