{"id":442640,"date":"2026-02-27T13:47:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/publication\/442640\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:47:52","slug":"hesitant-improvement-in-economic-assessments-at-the-start-of-the-year-2","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/442640\/","title":{"rendered":"Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-442640","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of January 2026","text":"In the Austrian economy, economic sentiment improved slightly compared with the previous quarter, but remained subdued. In construction, economic assessments declined again, while in the manufacturing sector they remained predominantly sceptical despite an increase. Business uncertainty decreased compared with October but remained high. Capacity utilisation improved in manufacturing and services but declined in the construction industry. At the beginning of 2026, \"insufficient demand\" was still the most frequently cited obstacle to business activity in all sectors of the economy.","onlinedate":"2026-02-27 12:47:53","lang":"English","publication_series":"","publication_date":"20260227","publication_date_year":"","publication_date_full":true,"publication_num_pages":"11","keywords":"[\"WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey)\",\"quarterly data\",\"business cycle\"]","jelcodes":"[\"E32\",\"E66\"]","related_publications":"[\"3d7d6a8a-0fad-4b89-81be-ba82dbaf389d\"]","pdf":442642,"zip":null,"link":"","monthly_report":true,"monthly_report_main":false,"monthly_report_volume":"","monthly_report_pages":"","monthly_report_pages_sort":"0","issue":"4","journal":"WIFO Reports on Austria","publisher":"","invisible":false,"external":false,"embargo_date":null,"types":[44424],"research_groups":[3491,3500,3481],"collaboration":"","persons":[3607,3537,3731,3488],"persons_data":"[{\"personId\":3607,\"personName\":\"Werner H\u00f6lzl\",\"organisationNames\":[]},{\"personId\":3537,\"personName\":\"J\u00fcrgen Bierbaumer\",\"organisationNames\":[]},{\"personId\":3731,\"personName\":\"Michael Klien\",\"organisationNames\":[]},{\"personId\":3488,\"personName\":\"Agnes K\u00fcgler\",\"organisationNames\":[]}]","clients":[],"subclients":[],"partners":[],"topics":[],"host_publication_title":"","host_publication_subtitle":"","place_of_publication":"","host_publication_editors":"[]","type_description":"","output_media":"","chapter":"","article_number":"","citations":"{\"apa\":\"<div class=\\\"rendering rendering_researchoutput  rendering_researchoutput_apa rendering_contributiontoperiodical rendering_apa rendering_contributiontoperiodical_apa\\\"><span>H\u00f6lzl, W.<\\\/span><span>, Bierbaumer, J.<\\\/span><span>, Klien, M.<\\\/span><span>, &amp; K\u00fcgler, A.<\\\/span> (2026). <span>Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year: Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of January 2026<\\\/span>. <span><em>WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/em><\\\/span>, (4).<\\\/div>\",\"vancouver\":\"<div class=\\\"rendering rendering_researchoutput  rendering_researchoutput_vancouver rendering_contributiontoperiodical rendering_vancouver rendering_contributiontoperiodical_vancouver\\\"><span>H\u00f6lzl W<\\\/span><span>, Bierbaumer J<\\\/span><span>, Klien M<\\\/span><span>, K\u00fcgler A<\\\/span>. <span class=\\\"title\\\"><span>Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year: <span class=\\\"subtitle\\\">Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of January 2026<\\\/span><\\\/span><\\\/span>. <span>WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/span>. 2026 Feb 27;(4).<\\\/div>\",\"bibtex\":\"<div class=\\\"rendering rendering_researchoutput  rendering_researchoutput_bibtex rendering_contributiontoperiodical rendering_bibtex rendering_contributiontoperiodical_bibtex\\\"><div>@misc{3d40337414f944768e0d65eecc356dbc,<\\\/div><div>  title    = \\\"Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year: Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of January 2026\\\",<\\\/div><div>  abstract = \\\"In the Austrian economy, economic sentiment improved slightly compared with the previous quarter, but remained subdued. In construction, economic assessments declined again, while in the manufacturing sector they remained predominantly sceptical despite an increase. Business uncertainty decreased compared with October but remained high. Capacity utilisation improved in manufacturing and services but declined in the construction industry. At the beginning of 2026, {\\\"}insufficient demand{\\\"} was still the most frequently cited obstacle to business activity in all sectors of the economy.\\\",<\\\/div><div>  keywords = \\\"WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey), quarterly data, business cycle\\\",<\\\/div><div>  author   = \\\"Werner H{\\\\\\\"o}lzl and J{\\\\\\\"u}rgen Bierbaumer and Michael Klien and Agnes K{\\\\\\\"u}gler\\\",<\\\/div><div>  year     = \\\"2026\\\",<\\\/div><div>  month    = feb,<\\\/div><div>  day      = \\\"27\\\",<\\\/div><div>  language = \\\"English\\\",<\\\/div><div>  journal  = \\\"WIFO Reports on Austria\\\",<\\\/div><p>}<\\\/p><\\\/div>\",\"ris\":\"<div class=\\\"rendering rendering_researchoutput  rendering_researchoutput_ris rendering_contributiontoperiodical rendering_ris rendering_contributiontoperiodical_ris\\\"><p>TY  - GEN<\\\/p><p>T1  - Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year<\\\/p><p>T2  - Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of January 2026<\\\/p><p>AU  - H\u00f6lzl, Werner<\\\/p><p>AU  - Bierbaumer, J\u00fcrgen<\\\/p><p>AU  - Klien, Michael<\\\/p><p>AU  - K\u00fcgler, Agnes<\\\/p><p>PY  - 2026\\\/2\\\/27<\\\/p><p>Y1  - 2026\\\/2\\\/27<\\\/p><p>N2  - In the Austrian economy, economic sentiment improved slightly compared with the previous quarter, but remained subdued. In construction, economic assessments declined again, while in the manufacturing sector they remained predominantly sceptical despite an increase. Business uncertainty decreased compared with October but remained high. Capacity utilisation improved in manufacturing and services but declined in the construction industry. At the beginning of 2026, \\\"insufficient demand\\\" was still the most frequently cited obstacle to business activity in all sectors of the economy.<\\\/p><p>AB  - In the Austrian economy, economic sentiment improved slightly compared with the previous quarter, but remained subdued. In construction, economic assessments declined again, while in the manufacturing sector they remained predominantly sceptical despite an increase. Business uncertainty decreased compared with October but remained high. Capacity utilisation improved in manufacturing and services but declined in the construction industry. At the beginning of 2026, \\\"insufficient demand\\\" was still the most frequently cited obstacle to business activity in all sectors of the economy.<\\\/p><p>KW  - WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey)<\\\/p><p>KW  - quarterly data<\\\/p><p>KW  - business cycle<\\\/p><p>M3  - WIFO series<\\\/p><p>JO  - WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/p><p>JF  - WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/p><p>ER  - <\\\/p><\\\/div>\"}","scientific_assistance":"[\"Agnezy Birgit\",\"Bergsmann Tobias\",\"Charos Alexandros\",\"Strauss-Kollin Anna\"]","scientific_review":"[\"Ederer Stefan\"]","version":"","release_date":null,"expiration_date":null,"surveyor":"","research_assistance":"","edv":"","additional_info_de":"","additional_info_en":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.3 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year - WIFO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/442640\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/442640\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WIFO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WIFOat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T12:47:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WIFO-Gebaeude-FotoAlexanderMueller-www.alexandermueller.at-IMG_6326-Bearbeitet-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WIFOat\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/442640\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/442640\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hesitant Improvement in Economic Assessments at the Start of the Year - 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