A key measure of turning points in Switzerland’s economy fell unexpectedly in February to its lowest level in a year, results of a monthly survey by the KOF Institute showed Monday. The economic barometer dropped to 105.0 from 107.2 in January, which was revised from 107.8. Economists had expected the reading to rise to 108.5. The latest reading, which was the weakest since February last year, is still to some extent higher than the long-term average, the Zürich-based think tank said.
“The normalization since the most recent peak in May 2021 is thus proceeding,” KOF said. “The economic situation should therefore continue to develop positively.” The KOF attributed the latest decline mainly to the indicators from the manufacturing sector, followed by those from the financial sector. The signals for the Swiss exporters are somewhat more favorable than before. However, the institute cautioned that the underlying data was collected before the Ukraine crisis escalated.