All analysis from category Macro comment
Macro comment
Wages in Q2: Real wage decline continues
At the end of 2021, prices began to rise faster than wages, and this adverse trend continues today. In Q2, average wages increased by 7.7 per cent year-on-year, but after accounting for inflation, average wages fell by 3.1 per cent in real terms.
Macro comment
PMI in August: falling demand continues
Business conditions were below the neutral value of 50 points in August for the fifteenth month in a row, indicating a decline in business activity.
Macro comment
Consumer prices in July: Inflation falling but target still far away
Unsurprisingly, inflation continues to fall. In July, the consumer price index rose 0.5 percent month-on-month, yet year-on-year inflation slowed to 8.8 percent. Compared to the start of the year, inflation is now roughly half of what it was at the beginning of the year. However, its decline will be much slower in the coming months.
Macro comment
Unemployment in July: slight seasonal increase
The share of unemployed in the 15-64 population rose by 0.1 percentage point to 3.5% in July. It is 0.3 percentage points higher year-on-year. 259 thousand jobseekers were registered at the labour offices, 9 thousand more than in June. After seasonal adjustment, we estimate that the jobless rate stagnated at 3.6%, or the decline in unemployment is purely due to seasonal factors. Every year in July, graduates enter the labour market and some of them do not find employment and register with the labour offices. In the current labour market situation, however, they find employment very quickly.
Macro comment
Foreign trade in June: in surplus again
The balance of foreign trade ended in a surplus of CZK 18.2 billion in June, a year-on-year improvement of CZK 33.4 billion. So far this year, foreign trade is in surplus in every month - a stark contrast to 2022.
