Summary
The indications on the international background were again less favourable. On the domestic side, the economic climate indicator stabilized in August and September, staying close to the maximum of the five previous years, presented in June. The economic activity indicator, available until August, continued the upward trend started in January. The quantitative consumption indicator accelerated in August due to a higher growth of the consumption of durable and non-durable goods, as it had happened in the previous month. On the contrary, in August, the GFCF indicator interrupted the strong accelerations of the two previous months. This evolution reflected the behaviour of the investment in transport material that, after a strong increase in June and July, is returning to a more moderate growth rate. In August, the information from the short-term statistics pointed to a more positive evolution of economic activity in the services sector and less negative in construction, while in industry a deceleration was observed. In nominal terms, in August, a slight acceleration of imports (0.2 percentage points) and a deceleration of exports (0.6 p.p.) were observed, though exports (6.1%) maintained a higher growth rate than imports (4.3%). The available information on employment, from the short-term statistics and the employment centres, points to some recovery in August. In September, inflation stood at the same value of the previous month, 2.1%, the minimum since June 2005.Report based on information available up to October 17, 2007.