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Almost half of finance companies saw their business activity increase in the first quarter of this year, a survey has found.
A fifth (20%) of non-finance companies also reported an increase in their activity, according to Statistics Jersey's Business Tendency Survey.
Overall, the all-sector business activity indicator - a measure of the total amount of work undertaken by businesses operating in Jersey - was positive, with a value of +13 percentage points (pp).
The overall business activity indicator is essentially the same as 3 months ago, but finance significantly higher: https://t.co/rRgERZPVlc pic.twitter.com/ZXKebTI28L
— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) April 17, 2019
Over a quarter (28%) of businesses reported an increase in business activity, compared with 15% that reported a decline.
Over half (57%) of companies reported that business activity was unchanged.
In March 2019, four out of the eight all-sector indicators relating to the current situation were positive. In addition to business activity, this included new business, product prices and employment.
Half (50%) of businesses said input costs are higher, while 29% have increased product prices: https://t.co/rRgERZPVlc pic.twitter.com/vj8SVuJNMw
— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) April 17, 2019
The latest Jersey Labour Market statistics showed that the number of jobs in the financial and legal sector rose to 13,760 in December - a new record representing a growth of 11% over the last five years.
The input costs indicator was the most negative of the eight current indicators at -48 pp. Half of companies reported increases and very few (2%) reported decreases.
The report also shows that outlook for the future business activity is strongly positive. Over a third (35%) of businesses expect to see an increase, while only 10% expect a decrease. The remaining 56% anticipate no change.
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