In the second quarter economic activity may have slowed down, according to the available data. However, economic climate was not affected, with the indicator reaching the highest value of the last five years. The activity indicator, with information until May, has also maintained an ascendant path, still reflecting the acceleration of activity occurred during the first months of the year.
This slowdown of activity may have resulted of the behaviour of external demand, which implied a less pronounced increase of the exports, while the imports accelerated, according to the preliminary data on external trade with information available until May. Domestic demand may have revealed a better behaviour due to the investment recovery, namely in transport equipment and construction. In the labour market, signs are moderately favourable, taking into account the economic agents' expectations available until June, as well as the information coming from the Short Term Statistics and the employment centres. Inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased in the second quarter, against the tendency of the tree previous quarters. This behaviour was the result of the evolution of the services component, which accelerated strongly in April, staying subsequently at a high level, while the goods component, having accelerated in the same month, took a low level afterwards.