The Commerce Entrepreneur Confidence Index (Icec) fell by 1.4% from January to February this year. Compared to February 2022, the drop reached 3.3%. The data, released today (1st), are from the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC).
The fall of 1.4% in comparison with January was driven mainly by the assessments of trade entrepreneurs in relation to the current situation, which fell by 2.8%. The assessment of the economy was the one with the greatest loss (-5.1%).
Investment intentions fell by 1.5%, driven by falls in intentions to hire employees (-2.2%) and to invest in the company (-2.6%). Already the expectations of the businessman in relation to the future retreated 0.2%.
In comparison with February of last year, expectations fell by 9.3%, mainly due to assessments about the economy (-13.7%). Investment intentions presented a loss of 2.4%, driven by intentions to hire employees (-10.7%).
On the other hand, evaluations on current conditions rose 4.7%, influenced by increases of 9.4% in opinions about the economy and 5.5% in evaluations about the company.
