All analysis from category Macro comment
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.
Macro comment
Industry in June: gradual slowdown in production growth
Industrial production had increased in June, mainly thanks to growth in car production, but it was gradually slowing down, and production was falling in most other sectors.
Macro comment
Retail sales in June: pace of sales decline slows down
Retail sales fell for the 14th month in a row in June on a year-on-year basis, but the rate of decline slowed for the fourth month in a row, partly due to the low comparative base from last year and also due to slow month-on-month growth
