Scant improvement on European market. The Architects Council of Europe's 11th survey into economic trends estimates that the architecture market will probably remain stalled over the next few months. Around two thirds of the European architects who took part in this survey consider that the economic climate they are working in is not helpful to their activities. Only 6% of them say that they are upbeat about future prospects. Nonetheless, there are significant disparities from one country to another. While countries in central and southern Europe appear to be stuck in a rut, the level of optimism in northern European countries, particularly in Sweden and Finland, is very high. Given that labour-cost forecasts remain stable and despite the difficult economic climate, a large majority of respondents (67.8%) do not envisage any changes to their staff numbers in the short term. Less than a fifth (18.6%) were planning on cuts in staff numbers in the next few months (as opposed to 20.8% in January 2013). (IL/transl.fl)