Industrial SMEs continue to reduce their activity and eliminate jobs

The survey warned that the impact was more severe on small businesses than on medium-sized businesses. Additionally, predictive activity indicators (PMI) and trustworthy (ICE) of industrial SMEs also fell, but more attenuated compared to the previous quarter.

The Anticipatory Index of the SME Activity Cycle (PMI) was located at 44 points and measures purchasing and production decisions in inventories of manufacturing SMEs.

In this measurement when the index gives above 50 means that the companies surveyed they project expansion and, below 50, project contraction.

In the second quarter, although the PMI index was negative (44 points) and was even one point less than the same period a year ago, at the same time it attenuated the pessimism of the first quarter of the year, which had shown ten points less. “All components of the index have contractionary values, especially “Order Portfolio” and “Stock of raw materials and inputs”,” noted the Observatory report.

Regarding the Business Confidence Index (ICE), it was located at 43 points. The index measures profitability expectations and timing to invest, as well as current conditions (with its individual, sector and national components). In this case the measurement showed an improvement of 2.7 points compared to the previous quarter and a drop of 4.5 points compared to the same period last year.

In this average of contraction expectations, businessmen highlighted two aspects where the index gave up (more than 50), both linked to what they expect for the 2027 election year: