31 March 2020

2020- n° 89

In January 2020, services output increased (+0.3%) Index of services production - January 2020

In January 2020, output in services increased (+0.3% after −0.7% in December).

Over the last three months (November to January), services output decreased compared to the previous three months (−0.4%).

It went down sharply in transportation and storage (−2.7%). It also diminished in real estate activities (−0.5%) and in business support activities (−0.7%): in this subsection, it decreased in specialised, scientific and technical activities (−1.0%) and more slightly in administrative and business service activities (−0.2%). By contrast, the output increased in household services (+1.7%), in information and communication (+0.7%) and in accommodation and food services activities (+1.1%).

In services, output of the last three months (November 2019 to January 2020) rose by 2.8% compared to the same three months over a year.

It went up sharply in business support (+2.5%), be it in specialised, scientific and technical activities (+2.8%) or in administrative and business service activities (+2.1%), in information and communication (+5.7%), in accommodation and food service activities (+4.6%), in household services (+3.2%) and more moderately in real estate activities (+1.4%). However, the output went down slightly in transportation and storage (−0.3%).

In January 2020, output in business support activities recovered (+1.5% after −2.0% in December).

Output bounced back in specialised, scientific and technical activities (+1.7% after −2.9% in December): it rebounded in activities of head offices and management consultancy (+3.2% after −2.2%), in scientific research and development (+2.7% after −9.0%), in other professional, scientific and technical activities (+1.2% after −3.0%). It increased again in architecture and engineering activities (+2.9% after +0.2%). By contrast, it decreased again in legal and accounting activities (−1.1% after −1.8%) and in advertising and market research (−3.3% after −0.1%) .

Output also bounced back in administrative and business support activities (+1.3% after −0.6%). It accelerated slightly in rental and leasing activities (+1.9% after +1.6%) and rebounded in other administrative and business support activities (+3.0% after −2.2%), in activities of security and investigation (+3.4% after −4.1%) and in services to building and landscape activities (+0.7% after −0.8%). However, it went down again in employment activities (−0.3% after −1.1%) and in travel agency, tour operator (−1.4% after −2.7%).

In January 2020, output in accommodation and food service activities went up (+1.0% after −0.1% in December). It bounced back in food and beverage service activities (+1.3% after −0.5%) but dwindled sligthly in accommodation (−0.3% after +1.2%).

In January 2020, output in household services turned down sharply (−3.0% after +1.8% in December). It fell back strongly in arts, entertainment and recreation (−5.2% after +2.7%) but grew in other personal services production (+1.4% after +0.1%).

Output in transportation and storage went down in January 2020 (−1.1% after a stability in December). It fell back sharply in warehousing and support for transportation (−2.1% after +2.9%), in postal and courier activities (−4.5% after +9.9%) and in water transport (−6.0% after +7.3%). By contrast, it bounced back in air transport (+1.6% after −4.9%) and was stable in land transport (after a decrease of −2.9% in December).

Output in information and communication turned down in January 2020 (−0.5% after +1.0% in December). It decreased in telecommunications (−1.5% after +1.6%), in programming and broadcasting activities (−3.3% after −1.1%), in computer programming (−0.2% after +0.3%) and in motion picture, sound recording, music publishing (−0.9% after +1.8%). However, it increased again in edition (+1.3% after +2.5%) and in information services (+0.2% after +1.6%).

The month-on-month variation rate of the index of services production in December 2019 has been revised upwards by 0.2 points. Initially published at −0.9%, it has been stated at −0.7%.