Slovenia's Nov economic sentiment index rises 1.0 pct pts m/m

The November index was down by 12 percentage points from a year earlier and was 21 percentage points below the long-term average, the statistics office said in a statement.

Slovenia started measuring economic sentiment in January 2000.

The seasonally-adjusted services confidence index remained unchanged on the month in November. It was 17 percentage points down from November last year and 37 points below the long-term average.

The seasonally-adjusted value of the manufacturing sector confidence index gained three percentage points from October. It decreased by seven percentage points from November 2011 and was 11 points below the long-term average.

Eighty-seven percent of all enterprises active in the manufacturing sector plan to invest next year, with most funds expected to be spent on replacing old equipment, followed by investing in production capacities and only a quarter of the companies plan to allocate money for automation and mechanisation in 2013.

The November seasonally-adjusted retail trade confidence indicator slipped by one percentage point month-on-month. It dropped by 22 points from November 2011 and was 14 percentage points below the long-term average.

The confidence indicator in the construction sector rose by one percentage point on the month and gained four points year-on-year in November. It was 26 percentage points below the long-term average.

The consumer confidence indicator went up by one percentage point from October, due to consumers' more optimistic expectations about the employment rate over the next 12 months. The indicator was 13 percentage points below last year’s average and 12 points lower than a year earlier.