DATEV MITTELSTANDSINDEX
No economic recovery in sight
After a slight stabilization trend in the previous month, hopes of a rapid economic recovery for German SMEs were dashed in June. Adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, the DATEV SME Sales Index fell by 3.0 points to 90.3 points compared to the previous month. This represents a decline of 5.5 percent compared to the previous year. This negative trend can be seen across almost all sectors, federal states and company sizes. The significant drop in turnover of 5.2% among medium-sized companies is particularly alarming. This clearly shows that the German SME sector is still a long way from economic stabilization.
By contrast, the wage index rose by 0.5 points to 115.0 points in June, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. This corresponds to a nominal wage increase of 5.0% compared to the previous year. Wage and salary growth thus continues to outpace the general price trend and remains a relevant cost factor for companies.
Adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, the employment index stagnated at 101.5 points in June, which corresponds to a decline of 0.3% compared to the previous year. While medium-sized companies were able to increase their employment, small companies and micro-enterprises in particular continued to record a reduction in employment.
