Small Biz Outlook
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business announced the result of a business outlook survey for February this year, which was answered by 1,366 small and medium-sized companies. According to the survey, the Small Business Health Index (SBHI) added up to 86.3, 1.5 points short of last month’s figure, to record a drop for four consecutive months.
“The continuous drop can be attributed to a recession in the construction industry along with sluggish domestic consumption,” said the Federation.
By industrial segment, the light and heavy chemical industries posted a drop of 1.9 and 1.1 points to 84.4 and 88.0, respectively. The figures were reduced by 1.2 points to 84.4 for small firms and 2.4 points to 91.4 for mid-sized companies, too.
Most of the indices showed negative movement, including industrial output, domestic consumption, ordinary profit, and raw material procurement. Still, the export and financing indices inched up to 90.4 and 86.2. Also, the manufacturing facilities and product inventory levels declined a little bit, but remained over the reference value of 100. The employment index fell 2.2 points to 95.1. In January, the SBHI had dropped 4.9 points from a month ago.