Jersey Chamber of Commerce president Ray Shead: ‘We are getting mixed messages’

BUSINESSES are waiting ‘with bated breath’ for survey results tomorrow which should indicate whether the Island is in or out of recession.

The business tendency survey numbers are to be released by the States’ Statistics Unit and will show how the economy performed in the first three months of the year.
The survey peers into the future as firms are asked to give an indication of business confidence for the months ahead.

Jersey Chamber of Commerce president Ray Shead said that many firms were waiting expectantly for the results to get a clear indication of how the economy was actually performing. ‘We are getting mixed messages,’ he said, ‘with some sectors saying they are doing all right and others reporting a challenging start to the year.’

However, Mr Shead said that he often repeated the mantra that Jersey tends to be six to nine months behind the UK in its economic cycles. ‘There is a feeling we are not out of the woods yet by a long way,’ he added.