INS: Moderate decrease in nearly all sectors until September

The managers of Romanian industrial companies forecast, for July-September 2009, a moderate activity decrease in the processing industry, the construction sector, retail trade and services, as compared to the previous quarter, the National Statistics Institute (INS) reports.

'Moderate' means a decline by -6 to -15 pc. According to managers, the steepest rates of staffing decrease will be registered by the branches of the processing industry (between -22 and -63 pc), the construction sector (-20 pc) and services (-13 pc). In the processing industry, managers estimate for the next three months an output diminishing by -13 pc. The decline in number of employees will be much steeper, i.e. by -22 pc for the whole processing industry, with a much steeper rate in the very large companies, with 500 employees at least (-30 pc). In metallurgy and other industrial activities, like the manufacturing of machines, tools and equipment, managers forecast personnel cuts up to 63, 44 and 43 pc respectively. Industrial products prices are expected to keep steady for the next three months. According to estimations for July 2009, the construction activity will register a moderate decrease trend in the volume of output and in the contracting and ordering processes. Construction managers expect a personnel reduction by -20 pc at most, while prices of construction works are expected to stay relatively stable. In July 2009, retail trade managers forecast an 8 pc activity decline for the next three months, as the total sales volume lost 5 pc. The volume of orders placed by commercial units to goods providers will decrease moderately and employers estimate for the next three months a downward trend of the personnel in this sector, with a maximum 13 pc decline. The managers of commercial companies estimate that retailing prices will go up 11 pc. The demand for services, reflected in the turnover of trading companies, will go down a moderate 8 pc, while the number of employees will decrease by nearly twice as much.

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