{"id":453183,"date":"2026-10-06T15:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:34:34","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-10-06T15:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:34:35","slug":"business-sentiment-remains-subdued-despite-improvements-2","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/453183\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Sentiment Remains Subdued Despite Improvements"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-453183","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of July 2026","text":"The results of the July survey point to a slight improvement in business sentiment, albeit at a low level. Business expectations improved compared to the previous quarter, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors, but remained largely sceptical. Despite the ongoing war in Iran, business uncertainty and selling price expectations declined compared to April, whilst capacity utilisation improved slightly. However, order books remained stagnant, and the \"insufficient demand\" was cited across all sectors as the most prevalent obstacle to business activity.","onlinedate":"2026-10-06 13:34:35","lang":"English","publication_series":"","publication_date":"20261006","publication_date_year":"","publication_date_full":true,"publication_num_pages":"12","keywords":"[\"WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey)\",\"quarterly data\",\"business cycle\"]","jelcodes":"[\"E32\",\"E66\"]","related_publications":"[\"f8a9f36e-0e7c-4a2c-b85e-9c12e4f16e08\"]","pdf":453186,"zip":null,"link":"","monthly_report":true,"monthly_report_main":false,"monthly_report_volume":"","monthly_report_pages":"","monthly_report_pages_sort":"0","issue":"10","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>Business Sentiment Remains Subdued Despite Improvements: Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of July 2026<\\\/span>. <span><em>WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/em><\\\/span>, (10).<\\\/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>Business Sentiment Remains Subdued Despite Improvements: <span class=\\\"subtitle\\\">Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of July 2026<\\\/span><\\\/span><\\\/span>. <span>WIFO Reports on Austria<\\\/span>. 2026 Oct 6;(10).<\\\/div>\",\"bibtex\":\"<div class=\\\"rendering rendering_researchoutput  rendering_researchoutput_bibtex rendering_contributiontoperiodical rendering_bibtex rendering_contributiontoperiodical_bibtex\\\"><div>@misc{82a7d52932014b4ca166942c1c94b149,<\\\/div><div>  title    = \\\"Business Sentiment Remains Subdued Despite Improvements: Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of July 2026\\\",<\\\/div><div>  abstract = \\\"The results of the July survey point to a slight improvement in business sentiment, albeit at a low level. Business expectations improved compared to the previous quarter, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors, but remained largely sceptical. Despite the ongoing war in Iran, business uncertainty and selling price expectations declined compared to April, whilst capacity utilisation improved slightly. However, order books remained stagnant, and the {\\\"}insufficient demand{\\\"} was cited across all sectors as the most prevalent obstacle to business activity.\\\",<\\\/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    = oct,<\\\/div><div>  day      = \\\"6\\\",<\\\/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  - Business Sentiment Remains Subdued Despite Improvements<\\\/p><p>T2  - Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest Quarterly Survey of July 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\\\/10\\\/6<\\\/p><p>Y1  - 2026\\\/10\\\/6<\\\/p><p>N2  - The results of the July survey point to a slight improvement in business sentiment, albeit at a low level. Business expectations improved compared to the previous quarter, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors, but remained largely sceptical. Despite the ongoing war in Iran, business uncertainty and selling price expectations declined compared to April, whilst capacity utilisation improved slightly. However, order books remained stagnant, and the \\\"insufficient demand\\\" was cited across all sectors as the most prevalent obstacle to business activity.<\\\/p><p>AB  - The results of the July survey point to a slight improvement in business sentiment, albeit at a low level. Business expectations improved compared to the previous quarter, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors, but remained largely sceptical. Despite the ongoing war in Iran, business uncertainty and selling price expectations declined compared to April, whilst capacity utilisation improved slightly. 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