Halle (dpa/sa) – The craft businesses in the south of Saxony-Anhalt are concerned about their business development. However, the mood was “still good because of the positive reports from the main construction and finishing trades,” said the current economic report from the Chamber of Crafts (HWK) on Thursday. Nevertheless, the companies feared negative developments across the sectors – in particular due to further price increases and the effects of the Ukraine war.
“Quite a few companies are expecting nasty surprises in terms of costs in the next few weeks,” said Thomas Keindorf, President of the Halle Chamber of Crafts. If action is not taken quickly, there is a risk of plant closures.
So far, the economic figures hardly allow any conclusions to be drawn about the mood in the skilled trades. The number of employees rose slightly by 500 to 64,500 in the third quarter of 2022, the report said. Sales also increased by an average of five percent. However, the increases must be understood as nominal sales growth, which is primarily based on passing on cost increases for primary products and energy to customers.
