Swiss KOF Economic Barometer rose to 102.7 in February, up from 96.5, above expectation of 97.0. It’s now slightly above long-term average of 100. The downward trend since September has “come to an end, at least for the time being”. For the next few months, the barometer now “signals somewhat more lively economic activity”.
Also released, GDP growth slowed to 0.3% qoq in Q3, sharply lower than Q4’s 7.6% qoq. “Major losses were recorded in the services directly affected by the tightening of the containment measures. Other industries continued to recover. On the whole, the second wave of the coronavirus until the end of 2020 had much less of an impact on the economy than the first wave did last spring.”
