Siri Advisory

THE DUTCH DITCH PESSIMISM: MAY 2015 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

In the month of May 2015, the Netherlands has shown an improvement in the economic situation compared with April 2015, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

It was observed that the economic recovery started between the period of summer 2013 and spring 2014 has accelerated in May 2015.

It was for the 4th Quarter in a row that the Dutch economy grew during the 1st Quarter of 2015. The growth rate was approximately 0.4% over the previous quarter.

Optimism among producers and consumers

The Dutch manufacturers are upbeat about the improvement and have shown positive signs further in the month of May, 2015 the positive mood reaching its peak in more than four years. They were also more optimistic about their future output.

Consumers have also shown signs of positivity (and are back to the feeling levels of March 2015) with optimists outnumbering pessimists. In the month of March 2014, the Dutch consumer confidence was high for the first time since the summer of 2007,( Further, willingness-to-buy is less negative in the month of May than it was in April;? )however, the Consumers’ opinion about the economic climate has not changed considerably.

The capacity utilisation of manufacturing industry at the beginning of 2nd quarter of 2015 is at its highest level since 2008.

The manufacturing sector has shown an upward trend in the month of May after a decline in last 5 months.

Investors and Household

The investments in fixed assets have shown an increase of 14% compared with March 2014. Also, compared with April, 2015, the investments in residential property as well as infrastructural projects have increased

 Labour Market

According to CBS, the Dutch labour market has shown an improvement especially young people appear to benefit most from the recovery of the labour market. In the last 4 quarters, the unemployment rate was down among 15 to 24-year-olds, from 13 to 11 percent approximately. The unemployment rate in the labour force among 25 to 44-year-olds fell less rapidly and it was stable among over-45s.

The total number of hours spent by temporary jobs has increased by 1.1% in the Q1 of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014.

 CONCLUSIONS

Overall the Dutch economy in on an upswing stimulating investor confidence and market sentiment. However, it is remains to be seen if it will be enough to widen the contributions to the economy to reach it to the level of the economic boom pre 2008.

Source: cbs (dutch statistics bureau)