State of Trade Survey

State of Trade Survey 2012 Q2

There was no let up in Q2 2012 as overall SME workloads declined again, according to the latest State of Trade survey from the FMB. However, one quarter of firms indicated that workloads had risen during the quarter, a slight improvement from the 23% in the first quarter of the year. The outlook for the coming three months has deteriorated, with 22% of respondents reporting positive expectations for workloads, down from 27% three months ago. Around 38% anticipated a fall.