In May, the consumer confidence and the economic sentiment indicators recovered in the Euro Area (EA). In the same month, the raw materials and oil prices presented monthly change rates of 2.7% and 12.7%, respectively (2.4% and 6.5% in April)
In Portugal, the economic activity indicator decreased in April, after stabilizing in the previous month, while the economic climate indicator increased between March and May. The quantitative indicator of private consumption stabilized in April, reflecting the slight acceleration of the non-durable component and the slowdown of the durable consumption component. In the same month, the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) indicator increased, due to the more intense positive contribution of the transport material component and to the less significant negative contribution of the construction component. Concerning the international trade of goods, exports and imports recorded year-on-year nominal change rates of -1.8% and -1.4% in April, respectively (-1.7% and 0.8% in March). Considering the economic activity from the production perspective, in the case of industry, the turnover index registered negative change rates in nominal terms in the last months, which may reflect mainly the reduction of prices (as it can be observed in the respective price index), since the industrial production index showed a positive growth in April. The services turnover index presented a slight growth in nominal terms in April, maintaining the sequence of positive change rates observed since January. The construction and public works production index presented a less pronounced negative change rate in April.
According to the monthly estimates of the Labour Force Survey, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (15 to 74 years old) was 12.0% in April, remaining unchanged from the definitive estimate for March. The employed population (15 to 74 years old), seasonally adjusted, did not change comparing with the previous month level, having increased by 0.3% when compared with April 2015.
The year-on-year change rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.3% in May (0.5% in April), with a change rate of -0.6% in the goods component (-0.2% in the previous month) and 1.8% in the services component (1.5% in April).