Summary
In the Euro Area (EA), the economic sentiment and the consumer confidence indicators extended in September the downward movement observed since August 2007. It should be noticed that the qualitative information, both at national and EA level, available up to September, does not reflect completely the latest developments of the financial crises in that month, since it only includes answers until September 24.
On the domestic side, the signs for a slowdown of economic activity remain. The economic climate indicator, available up to September, and the economic activity indicator, available until August, declined, registering in the second case the minimum since November 2003. The private consumption indicator recovered in August, although less intensely than in the previous month, due to the positive evolution of durable consumption, while non-durable consumption stabilized. However, it should be noticed that this recovery in the last two months might be partially connected to adjustments made to previous changes in the VAT and vehicle tax. The GFCF indicator might have deteriorated in July and August, what was common to all components but especially intense in transport material. On the supply side, in August the Short Term Indicators information revealed declines in services and construction and a recovery in industry. Concerning the international trade, imports (from 8.5% to 8.6%) and exports (from 2.7% to 2.8%) were relatively stable in August in nominal terms.
Employment, accordingly to the Short Term Indicators, with information available up to August, might have slowdown in the last three months, inverting the upward movement that has been registered since the beginning of 2007.
In September, year-on-year inflation was 3.1%, 0.1 p.p. more than in the previous month. The differential between the EA Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and the Portuguese HICP decreased 0.3 p.p. in September to 0.4 p.p..