WIFO's business survey carried at the end of October yields a sligthly more sanguine outlook than in June. Improved business confidence is partly based on higher orders from abroad, which have tended to stabilise exports and manufacturing output. The recovery is mainly carried by increased demand from overseas and Eastern Europe, but a sustained improvement would have to be based on an upswing in Western Europe, which is nowhere in sight yet. Another mainstay of the present economic development are rising consumer expenditures which are financed by a marked reduction in the savings rate. The stabilisation of economic activity in the fall has moderated the deterioration in the labour market. The unemployment rate rose more slowly than in the first half of the year and surpassed last year's level by ½ percentage point. Inflationary pressures are easing only very gradually. In October the rate of inflation was as high as 3.5 percent.