Business confidence in Canberra and its surrounding area has fallen to below the national average, a new survey has revealed.
The May 2004 Sensis Business Index - Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) - found business confidence in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) had fallen for the second consecutive quarter.
Sensis chief economist Steven Shepherd said confidence among the capital's SMEs was now at 55 per cent, 6 per cent below the national average. ''This means business confidence in the ACT has declined 23 percentage points in just six months,'' Shepherd said.
''Stronger wages pressure and falling sales appear to have contributed to the negative business sentiment.'' Shepherd said sales performance had tracked downwards again this quarter and it was now 12 per cent lower than the national average.
Sales growth had fallen by another 7 per cent, down from 14 per cent. Sales were growing at 25 per cent just three quarters ago, Shepherd said.
