As if by magic, industry has become all upbeat about the prospects for the German economy – just in case anyone had the impression companies were about to start firing workers en masse after an upcoming federal election.

This was the tone of a German newspaper editorial this week which said “what a coincidence” it was that sentiment had shot up in the weeks before the Sept. 27 vote.

“Some pronouncements give rise to suspicion that interest groups are trying to pacify the electorate ahead of the ballot box,” the Neue Westfälische daily wrote. “The motto seems to be: don’t draw any more conclusions from the crisis, it really wasn’t that bad after all.”

Just two months ago, a number of leading think tanks said a forecast by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government that the economy would contract by six percent this year was not pessimistic enough.

Now surveys show German business morale is now at its highest level in nearly a year, financial market analysts’ expectations for the economy have climbed to a 40-month peak, and an increasing number of bank economists have forecast Germany will bounce back from the crisis strongly next year.

Are firms and analysts clubbing together to pull the wool over people’s eyes?

“The recession has been cancelled,” wrote the Schwäbische Zeitung daily. “But you’re left wondering: how is it possible for a lumbering economic tanker to perform such a rapid 180 degree turn?”

Thanks in part to a state subsidy that encourages firms to cut working hours instead of firing staff, German job losses have been relatively slight – even though the government’s forecast sees gross domestic product (GDP) contracting nearly seven times more sharply this year than in any since the war.

This has sparked reports that German bosses have made a tacit agreement not to cut jobs until after the election to counter the risk of voters returning a left-leaning government that could prove hostile to big business.

Beneath the scepticism are lingering suspicions about the banking industry.

“In autumn and winter, a lot of companies are going to be on the brink financially. Then we’ll have to see whether the banks thank the taxpayer for being rescued by offering sensible loans,” the Neue Westfälische wrote. “However, given that morality isn’t a category in the business, this hope is likely to be disappointed.”