In December 2018:

• the headline all-sector business activity indicator was positive, at +11 percentage points (pp); this means the proportion of businesses reporting an increase was 11 pp greater than those reporting a decrease
  
• the business activity indicator was strongly positive for the finance sector (+28 pp) and marginally positive for the non-finance sector (+4 pp)
• the all-sector business activity indicator decreased by 10 pp over the latest three months, due to a decrease in the non-finance indicator of 14 pp; the finance sector indicator was unchanged
• four out of the eight current indicators were positive, two were neutral and two were negative 
  
• for the finance sector, seven of the eight current indicators were positive and one was negative
• for the non-finance sector, two of the eight current indicators were positive, two were neutral and four were negative
• the finance sector was significantly more positive than non-finance in six of the eight current indicators
• the overall picture was more negative than last quarter; of the three current indicators to change significantly, all were decreases
  
• for the finance sector, there was one significant increase and one significant decrease
• for the non-finance sector, there was one significant increase and four significant decreases
• while the profitability indicator was negative (-14 pp) overall, it was positive for the finance sector (+7 pp) and negative for the non finance sector (-23 pp)
  
• almost half (45%) of companies reported higher input costs, producing a strongly negative indicator of -44 pp; this was more pronounced for non-finance companies (-53 pp) than finance companies (-22 pp)
  

Regarding the next quarter, the first three months of 2019:

• the outlook for future business activity was positive (+11 pp) overall, with the finance sector being strongly positive (+34 pp) and non-finance neutral (+1 pp)
  
• the future business activity indicator was significantly lower than last quarter, down 10 pp
• the future employment outlook was neutral (+3 pp) overall, with the finance sector being positive (+12 pp) and non-finance neutral (-1 pp)
  
• the future employment indicator was significantly lower than last quarter, down 14 pp

Additional questions were asked of the finance sector:

• employment expectations for 2019 were positive (+24 pp); 55% of finance companies predicted an increase, while 30% predicted a decrease
  
• compared to expectations from December 2017, this indicator was significantly lower, down 25 pp
• profit expectations for 2019 were strongly positive (+59 pp); 71% of finance companies predicted an increase, compared to 12% that predicted a decrease
  
• compared to expectations from December 2017, this indicator was significantly lower, down 16 pp