Business confidence was unchanged in April, as large falls in the wholesale and construction sectors were offset by improved, but still weak, confidence in mining.

NAB’s business confidence barometer remained at three for the second month in a row in April, weighed down by an absence of signs of a sustained recovery in the Australian economy.

NAB economists said a lift in confidence is unlikely until there were signals of a broad recovery across the economy.

“To date, rate cuts have not appeared to do much and it will be interesting to see what if anything this week’s federal budget will do,” NAB’s economists said.

They said April’s falls in confidence were confined to a small number of industries, including wholesale and construction.

Confidence however improved slightly in mining, although confidence in that sector is still very low.

“The Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate cut in May should contribute to better confidence in coming months, although the response following the February cut suggests the impact may again be muted,” NAB’s economists added.

They said economic forecasts would be updated following the federal budget, but warned confidence levels were unlikely to change much from April.

“The biggest concern remains the weak intentions towards business investment,” they said.