According to network enterprises, there has been no change in the overall level of output over the past three months. Developments are somewhat weaker than in the preceding period. Output growth has fallen in most industries, but has edged up in the service sectors. Demand from the oil industry has continued to decline and the oil service industry reported a larger fall in output than in August. Overall output volume is being supported by higher demand from the public sector and improved competitiveness as a result of the depreciation of the krone.

Expectations with regard to output growth ahead were slightly weaker than in August, and contacts as a whole expect the level of output to remain unchanged over the next six months. Lower activity in the oil sector is having a dampening effect on growth prospects for most sectors, while the level of activity is expected to be sustained by rising growth in public investment.

Capacity utilisation has continued to decline and enterprises reported ample labour supply. Contacts also reported that employment has fallen somewhat and is expected to continue to edge down in the period ahead. Network contacts overall estimated annual wage growth of about 2.7 percent in 2015 and 2.4 percent in 2016.

Information was provided by 341 regional network contacts in this survey. The interviews were mainly conducted in October.

Report from Norges Bank's regional network 4/2015