Summary
In May, the Euro Area (EA) economic sentiment and the consumer confidence indicators maintained the downward movement started in August 2007. In the 1st quarter 2008, the main customer countries GDP decelerated 0.2 p.p. to 2.5%.
On the domestic side, in April the economic climate and the economic activity indicators gave slightly more positive indications than in the previous month. However, the economic climate indicator recorded a reduction in May.
In April, the Short Term Indicators information pointed to a more dynamic evolution in the industry and construction sectors and to a slowdown in services. The behaviour of these indicators was influenced by calendar effects (less two working days in March and two more working days in April than in the same months of the previous year). In nominal terms, imports (2.1 p.p) and exports (1.5 p.p.) accelerated in April, behaviour that was also partially explained by the referred calendar effects. In the same month, concerning the domestic demand, the available information revealed distinctive behaviours in private consumption, that might have decelerated, and in investment, that might have accelerated.
In May, year-on-year inflation was 2.8%, 0.3 p.p. more than in the previous month. The differential between the EA Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and the Portuguese HICP increased 0.1 p.p. in May, to 0.9 p.p..