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Neuss (dpa) - Further good business for the construction industry, crisis mood in the motor vehicle industry and in food production: the consequences of the corona pandemic have affected the craft in Germany to different degrees.

This is shown by a study by the credit reporting agency Creditreform.

Overall, the market observers came to a positive conclusion in the evaluation of a survey among a good 1,100 craft businesses: "There is no mood of doom, especially thanks to the stable construction industry."

According to the survey, a little less than two thirds (62.7 percent) of the companies surveyed rate their situation this spring as “good” or “very good”.

A year ago, 76.2 percent were so positive.

6.2 percent of the companies rated their situation as unsatisfactory or unsatisfactory.

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Almost every third craft business (30.2 percent) suffered a decline in sales in the past six months.

Only one in five of the companies surveyed (21.8 percent) reported an increase in sales.

A year ago it was 38.1 percent.

The sales situation deteriorated dramatically, especially in the motor vehicle trade and in the food trade, where every second company recorded a decrease in sales.

In both industries, around every fifth company sees itself in a situation that threatens its very existence.

So far, around every second company surveyed has made use of state aid, especially emergency aid for small and medium-sized companies to bridge acute liquidity bottlenecks.

Here, too, there are major differences between the industries.

While almost two thirds of the companies in the construction industry got along without support, in the food industry only a good quarter (28.6 percent) got through the crisis without help.

In the personnel planning of the companies, however, the resumption of the economy after the pandemic is already becoming apparent, at least in part.

A good fifth of those surveyed (20.6 percent) want to increase the number of employees in the next few months.

This value is only slightly below the previous year's level (23.5 percent).

Only a minority of 8.7 percent of the companies are planning to downsize.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210311-99-780624 / 2

Creditreform survey