Businesses report confidence up to a 10 month high

BUSINESS confidence across Wales gained further momentum in December and ticked up to a ten-month high while business activity fell only slightly amid a renewed increase in new orders, according to the latest Cymru Growth Tracker data from NatWest.

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At 49.4 at the end of the year, the headline Wales Business Activity Index ~ a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the area’s manufacturing and service sectors - was up from 46.8 in November and signalled the slowest decrease in output in the current four-month sequence of decline. The softer contraction in output was supported by a fresh rise in new orders in December. The upturn was modest and the first in six months.