All analysis from category Macro comment
Macro comment
Industry in August: The impact of different holiday use
A shift in the use of full-holidays has shuffled the economic statistics a bit this holiday season. For the industry, this factor helped to boost production by 1.8 per cent in August compared with the previous month and to increase output by 1.5 per cent year-on-year. However, if we look at the data for July and August together, we see a stagnation in industrial production.
Macro comment
PMI in September: no light at the end of the tunnel
For the twenty-eighth month in a row, business conditions in September were below the neutral value of 50 points indicating a decline in business activity.
Macro comment
CNB: Another slight easing of monetary policy
High inflation has subsided, but economic difficulties have not. In the current situation, a positive stimulus from economic policy would be desirable. Fiscal policy is teetering between consolidation and limiting negative stimulus. Monetary policy is next again. The CNB has decided to cut the key interest rate by a further 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent.
Macro comment
Consumer prices in August: cheap petrol, expensive alcohol
Inflation eased and settled at reasonably low levels. However, barring a repeat of last autumn's disinflation, it will rise again for a while in the coming months. In August, the consumer price index rose by 0.3 per cent month-on-month, while annual inflation stagnated at 2.2 per cent.
Macro comment
Unemployment in August: Positive seasonality, negative trend
It's not obvious at first glance, but the labour market situation is slowly changing. It has not been the case for a number of years that the demand for jobs exceeds the number of positions offered by firms, seasonal fluctuations aside. In August, this happened. The unemployed as a share of the population stagnated at 3.8 per cent, rising to 3.9 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
