+10.1 on previous index reading
At 68.7 in November 2020, the Business Pulse was 10.1 higher than last month but 13.1 lower than a year ago. Sentiment was up on the month in the industry and construction sectors, neither of which has been directly impacted by the move to Level 5 of the ‘Plan for Living with COVID-19’, but also in the services sector which has been. The improvement in the latter reflects expectations that current restrictions will be eased over the festive season, with the positive vaccine news also contributing to a more upbeat assessment of business prospects. The Retail Pulse was little changed however, with the survey findings pointing to a more muted Christmas trading period than normal – one in two retailers expects their turnover to be the same or higher than last year versus 85% typically.
